Arc
by Ryanwan
Summary: Maxwell Stark is Tony and Pepper’s son, who began to help his father become Iron Man, but was injured during his fight with the Iron Monger. Two years later, he somehow awoke from a coma to see that he has special abilities, and a future Avenger was created.
1. Coming Home

**I don't own anything Marvel, oc and story belongs to sketchywolf.**

Maxwell Stark could not be happier than he was now at that moment. He stood next to his mother, Pepper Potts at an airport as a military plane landed, carrying his missing but now found father, Tony Stark, who had been missing for three months.

Max was a boy of eleven, about four feet seven inches tall, had red hair like his mother also had her eyes. Despite his age, Max was already almost as intelligent as his dad, having already graduated high school and in his second year of college. Thankfully, the boy didn't have an ego the size of the Sun like his father, but could be at times a bit awkward like his mother could be.

Then the loading bay door opened to reveal his father, all cleaned up and in a suit, as if nothing had happened to him, but even Max could see that he'd been through a lot. Helping him down was the man who Max considered an uncle as well as a friend, his father's childhood friend, Colonel James Rhodes, who had been looking for Tony since he was captured.

"Oh, please, come on! None of that," Tony said, seeing some paramedics standing by to bring him to a hospital. As Rhodey told them to leave, Tony quickly walked over and hugged his son with his one free arm, and he hugged him back. Max didn't say anything at that time, he was just happy to have his dad back.

Then Tony looked at Pepper.

"Your eyes are red. Few tears for your long lost boss/father of your child?"

"Tears of joy. I hate job hunting," Pepper joked back, making Max laugh a little.

"Well, vacation's over."

They all then got into the car with their driver/bodyguard, Happy Hogan, in the driver's seat.

"Where to, sir?," he asked.

"Take us to the hospital, Happy-."

"Nope," Tony interrupted and he leaned over as Pepper began to argue that he needed to go to the hospital. "Listen. I've been in captivity for three months, and I want two things right now. I want an American cheeseburger. And..."

"Yeah, that's enough," Pepper said but was then shocked to hear his other request was to call for a press conference. "Call for a press conference? What on Earth for?!"

"Happy, drive. Cheeseburger first," Max ordered for them and he began driving. Then he noticed something underneath his Dad's shirt, on his chest. "What's that on your chest, Dad?"

His eyes widened when he realized Max had seen it and now Pepper would be demanding to know as well. So he unbuttoned his shirt a little to reveal a small device...inside his chest cavity.

"A miniaturized arc reactor?? You built that in a cave?"

"Yup. I've got shrapnel digging towards my heart, this is stopping it."

"Tony!!," Pepper exclaimed. "He's eleven, he doesn't need to hear that!"

"Um...actually Mom? I've heard and seen far worse than that."

She looked between them for a moment and grunted in frustration.

' _These boys will be the death of me_ ,' she thought to herself.

Soon enough, they got a couple of cheeseburgers and Pepper organized the press conference. They soon reached Stark Industries where Tony's and his father, Howard's business partner, Obadiah Stane, met them as they pulled in. He led them to the press room and Max and Pepper watched from behind the crowd. Then they were approached by a man with a serious look on his face, but still had a kind smile on his face.

"Miss Potts, may I speak to you for a moment?," he asked.

"Oh I'm not part of the press conference but it's about to start now," she said.

"I'm not a reporter. I'm Agent Coulson of the Strategic, Homeland, Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful."

"Yeah, we're working on it."

"Can't you just say SHIELD?," Max asked.

"I might actually have to talk to my boss about that, thank you. Anyway, we're quite interested in exactly how Mr. Stark escaped his captivity."

"Well we've already been approached by the FBI, the CIA...," Pepper began to say.

"We're a separate organization. With more...specific goals. Please, give me a call so we can set up a meeting," he said and handed a her a card and left. "Good day."

"Hey, Mom," Max said. "I forgot to let my friends know Dad's alright. I'm gonna go out and message them."

"Okay, just stay by Happy."

He nodded and he went outside. Technically, he only had one good friend that he kept in touch with, so he did not have much work.

" _Hey, they found him_ ," he messaged and about a minute later.

" _Yeah, I heard!! I'm so happy for you. How is he?,_ " his friend asked.

" _Some cuts and bruises. There's shrapnel in his chest and...don't tell anyone, but he was able to make small arc reactor to keep the metal from going into his heart._ "

" _A miniaturized arc reactor? Amazing_ ," she responded, completely understanding what he was talking about.

Then there was a lot of loud talking and people trying to reach Tony and Max knew that could only mean one thing.

" _I gotta go,_ " he messaged. " _My Dad has just created a storm of a mess for the company._ "

" _Okay, let me know what goes down. And try to visit sometime please._ "

" _I will. Bye._ "

"Hey buddy," Rhodes said, walking up to him.

"Hey Uncle Rhodey. What did he do now?"

"He announced that Stark Industries will no longer be in the weapons business."

"What?!! That's how my grandpa founded this company, where it started!"

"No need to yell buddy, your mom and Stane will be doing plenty of that. Happy needs to stay here to drive your dad, so Pepper asked me to bring home."

Max nodded and they drove back to the Stark home in Malibu.

"Thanks for the ride, Uncle Rhodey," Max said.

"No problem," he said. "I've gotta go, just make sure you keep an eye on your dad. We don't know what he went through."

Max understood and Rhodes drove off and he went inside and was greeted by the resident AI, JARVIS.

'Good afternoon, Max,' he said.

"Hey, JARVIS. Have you seen the news?"

'I have and it would appear that your father has painted a target on his head. Home security protocols have been put into effect.'

"Okay, I'm gonna go down into the shop," Max said. "We both know that's where he'll be when he gets home. Let's make him a welcome home present."

'Very well, sir,' JARVIS said.

Max went downstairs to his father's workshop. It was filthy and a mess as he did not keep it clean as he thought his father was dead and he missed him. He and the robot arms, including Dum-E, cleaned it up and then he got straight to work.

'Just what is it that you are attempting to build, Max?'

"My father has shrapnel digging into his chest, trying to reach his heart," Max explained as he began to us the holotable to design a small device. "He built out of scrapes a small arc reactor to keep them from reaching his heart."

'So you wish to create a new one out of fresh materials and the proper tools for him. Very well, I begin to running simulations on how various designs and we ought to create one before your parents come home.'

They began to work quickly. It was rather easy, especially since Max had been able to remember every detail of the reactor due to his photographic memory and already genius-level intellect.

After several hours, and a few failed attempts, he was able to create a device similar to what his father had made and all he needed to do was charge it.

Once this was done, it flowed a bright white light, just as Tony came down, but he wasn't expecting his son to be down in the shop.

"It's pretty late, shouldn't you be in bed?," he asked seeing that it was 10:00.

"I've been working since I came home on something for you," Max began and showed him the reactor and to say that Tony was shocked would be an understatement. "Call it a welcome home present. Made from fresh materials."

Tony took it and saw that it was identical to his own.

"I don't know what to say. Thanks, son."

He gave him another hug and max immediately returned it.

"Now I'm afraid you need to head to bed. Before your mom sees you're still up. Go go go!!"

Max then ran upstairs, but then he overheard Tony beginning to make something himself and then he saw something that looked like a metal suit made from scraps. It took a moment, but Max then figured out what it was.

' _It's how he escaped his kidnappers,_ ' he thought to himself. ' _He's gonna need help in this._ '

 **Hope this was good. Thank you sketchywolf for the request, I think I'm gonna like doing this one. I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible. Until then, see ya.**


	2. Father Son Bonding

**Chapter two of Avenging Speedster. For anyone who thought that the way Tony treated his son in the last chapter took away some of the redemption thing going on in the story, that wasn't my intention. I meant it to be that like he decided to make a major change with how he was raising his son as part of that redemption thing. I thank those of you who gave me ideas for this story but I already have a plan for this story so I hope you'll like it. Updates will likely be slow cause of life and I have a few other stories I'm working on so be prepared to see updates at anytime. Thank you and now on with the story.**

 **I don't own any Marvel characters or the oc. OC belongs to sketchywolf.**

A couple weeks have past and things were beginning to calm down, and yet Max could tell that his dad was planning something big.

Now he was hearing crashing sounds coming from downstairs and knew he was doing something crazy.

He quickly and quietly went downstairs to see that his dad had on the floor, getting extinguished by Dum-E.

"Having fun?," he asked, and Tony freaked out as his metal boots were on and in clear view for his son to see. "What exactly happened when you escaped?"

Tony knew that his son wasn't going to let him get away with a lie so he knew that he had to tell him the truth.

"Okay, okay...when I was captured," he began getting up. "...When I was injured, there was a man who helped me by putting electromagnet in my chest and hooked it up to a car battery. Kept the remaining shrapnel from reaching my heart. His name was Yinsen, he lived in a town called Gulmira. His family...had been killed and he was a captive like me. He helped me with the arc reactor, and..."

"What?"

"We carefully and quietly built our way out of there. A suit of thick metal armor, held together by my reactor. We need time though to cut all power from the caves so I could have the element of surprise. Yinsen bought me some time...at the cost of his life."

"...I'm so sorry, Dad," Max said, truly meaning it. "You escaped then. How?"

"...I flew," he answered. "But what has caused me to keep doing this is...the men who held us had _my_ guns. Now...I need to protect the world from the chaos that I've created. I have to do this...because it's the right thing to do."

"...No...it's not," Max said and his dad looked at him weird, then he saw his son move over to the holotable. "Alone, you'll kill yourself. Luckily...you've got me to make sure that doesn't happen."

Tony then smiled ever so slightly at this statement. He was quite glad that he wouldn't be doing this alone, that his son didn't despise him for all the neglect he got from him over the years.

"Now in order for you to not hurt yourself while testing your...boots. You're gonna need something to equalize the force coming from them. Maybe something for your arms."

Tony nodded in agreement and together they began to work on Mark 2 together.

They were at this for many weeks until finally they were able to create a flight stabilizer. Just as they were about to test it, Pepper came down with a gift.

"Hey Mom."

"Hey sweetie," she said kissing his head then turning to Tony. "Hey, did you hear me?"

"Yeah, everything's- What?," Tony said.

"Obadiah's upstairs."

"Great!"

"What would you like me to tell him?"

"Great. I'll be right up," he said finishing putting the stabilizer on his right arm.

"Okay," she said back but then she got the wrong idea from what was on his arm. "I thought you said you were done making weapons."

"It is. This is a flight stabilizer. It's completely harmless."

He then charged it up and then the end exploded and sent him back a ways, crashing into a few things.

"That was unexpected," Max said. "Well, as you can see, Dad and I have been having a _blast_ down here."

"Oh, man! That was so bad, buddy!!," Tony commented and Pepper just rolled her eyes at them.

"Come on, let's say hi to Obadiah."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes," they both said sternly and at the same time.

Max then followed his mother upstairs as his father got up finally and got himself cleaned up.

"Your Uncle Obie has been very stressed out at work since your father called for no more weapons production," Pepper said very softly. "So try to be nice to him. He also hasn't seen you in a while and he's missed you."

"Fine...," Max groaned as they reached upstairs and they saw Stane at the piano.

"Hey, Max!!," he said, happy to see the boy again, and pulled him into a one armed hug. "Been a while huh? What have you been up to?"

"Been in the shop mostly. Hanging out with Dad."

"Well I'm glad you two are spending more time together. Just remember to give your mother some attention too."

He nodded and then went to grab a slice of pizza Obadiah had brought from New York just as Tony came up.

"How'd it go?," he asked as Obie continued to play the piano and then he saw the pizza. "It went that bad, huh?"

"So it would seem," Max agreed.

"Don't let your innocent mind be corrupted by your father's witty remarks," Obadiah said, kidding around a little as he finished the tune he was playing. "Also, just because I brought pizza back from New York doesn't mean it went bad."

"Nope. Sure doesn't," Tony responded sarcastically, taking a bite out of the slice he swiped from his son, earning a glare from the kid. "Oh, boy."

"It would have gone better if you were there."

No! Mm mm! You told me to lay low. That's what I've been doing. I lay low, and you take care of all..."

"Hey, come on. In public! The press!," he exclaimed. "This was a board of directors meeting."

"This was a-. A board of directors meeting?"

"The board is claiming that you have posttraumatic stress."

"Wouldn't anyone from something like Dad went through?," Max asked, though he already knew the answer.

"You're right there, Max, but unfortunately that's beside the point in this instance. They're filing an injunction against."

"A what?," Tony said.

"They want to lock you out."

"Why? Because the stocks dipped 40 points? We knew that was gonna happen."

"Fifty-six and a half," Pepper corrected then Tony snapped at her a little.

"It doesn't matter! We own the controlling interest in the company."

"Tony, the board has rights, too," Stane continued. "They're making the case that you and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest."

He's being responsible!!," Max argued. "Dad's trying to go in a different direction. For himself and the company."

"Exactly. I mean, me on the company's behalf being responsible for the way that...this is great," tony said and he walked back downstairs, and Max sped right by him.

"Oh, come on. Tony. Tony!," Stane said trying to get his attention again.

"We'll be in the shop."

Max didn't hear much of what was said after that as he was busy talking to his friend.

"You won't believe what's going on with my Dad's company," he typed.

" _What?_ ," his friend asked.

"They're filing an injunction against him. Basically trying to kick him out of the company. Trying to have him fired."

" _That's not good. What's going to happen?_ "

"Not sure. But my Dad has made it a habit to be able get out of situations like this so I'm not too worried about it. What I'm really worried about is what he is planning to do with what we're building here at home. I probably shouldn't say anything on the phone, but it's something big."

" _Ooooh!!! Now I'm even more interested,_ " she responded. " _Let me know when you can tell me. Bye._ "

"You'll be the first," he promised. "Bye."

"You mind if I come down there and see what you're doing?," he heard Obadiah ask from upstairs.

"Good night, Obie," Tony said. "Hey, whatcha doin'?"

"Just talking to my friend," he answered.

"Oh yeah, your girlfriend."

"Ew!! Dad!! She's not my girlfriend!"

"Is she your friend?," he teased, but Max knew this tease and wasn't going to fall for it.

"Don't we have about 9,999 other ways to kill ourselves to figure out?"

"I'll take care of some of those tonight, Mr. Edison. You...need to go to bed, it's pretty late."

"Alright. Goodnight, Dad," he said heading upstairs.

"Goodnight, buddy."

Sometime later, after dozens of tests, Max and Tony believed that they had finally gotten it right with the boots.

"Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0," Max said, as he recorded the testing. "Also, for lack of a better option, Dum-E is still on fire safety."

"Yeah and if you douse me one more time, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college," Tony threatened, very annoyed by the robotic arm.

"And so the drama-filled love/hate relationship between my Dad, the great Tony Stark and the robotic arm, Dum-E, continues. Will my father finally admit his love for the caring and understanding robot? Find out in the next failed testing to see if we can kill ourselves by doing backflips and crashing into the wall behind us."

"Hey, uh...focus on the real task at hand here. You can watch your stories later."

"My whole life is a soap opera," he commented softly to himself. "All right then, nice and easy."

"Okay. Seriously, we're just gonna start off with literally 1% thrust capacity," he announced to the camera. "And three...two...one."

As soon as he said one, the boots were activated and a slow and steady thrust came out and he was lifted off of the platform.

"Okay."

"Whoa...," was all Max could say until Tony landed back on his feet. "Whoo!!! Yes, finally!!"

"Got that right!!!," tony yelled, celebrating a little as well, but then saw Dum-E at the ready with the extinguisher. "Please don't follow me around with it, either, 'Cause I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down! If something happens, then come in."

"Okay, Dad, again, but this time, how bout we bring it up to about 2.5."

Sounds good. Three...two...one."

He was then lifted up even higher than before and the thrusts incoming from the boots seemed to be more stable as well. However, the slightest movement Tony made made him move all around the shop.

"Whoa!!," Max yelled and ducked out of the way as Tony flew over him and to the cars.

Sorry, buddy!! Oh, not the car, not the car!! Table!," he yelled then laughed fearfully a little before realizing his son was still recording just as he was beginning to get the hang of it. "Could be worse! Could be worse! We're fine! Okay."

Tony was finally able to take back control of the flight testing and safely landed back on the platform, and Dum-E was then about to douse him.

"No! Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"

Then he stood down, whirring in shame.

"Yeah, I can fly."

"I think I've noticed," Max said and later that night, Tony had the rest of the Mark 2 suit on before his son grabbed the facial plate and put it on him.

"JARVIS, are you there?"

'At your service, sir,' the AI answered.

"Alright, engage Heads Up Display," Max said looking at the computer. "Check. JARVIS and I are being uploaded into the suit."

"Alright. Import all preferences from home interface," Tony said.

'Will do, sir.'

"I know you and Mom don't like it when curse, but you have absolutely no idea just how badass you look right now."

"Yeah, it's not that bad. And all is forgiven...this time. All right, what do you say, JARVIS?"

'I have indeed been uploaded, sir. We're online and ready.'

"Same on my end on the computer. For whatever you plan to do with these suits of yours, JARVIS shall be your main backup in the suit and I'll be the secondary, sending you any and all information to your display."

"Nice. Can we start the virtual walk-around?"

'Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment,' JARVIS said doing so.

"JARVIS, what say we check on all control surfaces?," Max suggested.

'As you wish.'

All flaps, openings and weapon containers were opened and closed in a chain reaction as Tony just stood inside the silver suit.

'Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics.'

"Yeah. Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check," Tony said and his son looked at him strangely. "Start listening in on ground control."

"Dad, we've barely been able to get you up into the air in the shop. By only a few feet. You go outside and the suit fails, that suit might aid you in killing you faster as metal and gravity _do not_ mix."

'Your son is correct sir,' JARVIS agreed. 'There are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-.'

"Guys! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk."

"... _Alright_. Don't blame me if you die."

"Noted. Ready? In three...two...one," Tony said then activated the thrusters and slowly and steadily began to move towards the outside and he began flying fast and free all around the sky. "WHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

" _Glad you're having fun,_ " Max said over the coms. " _How's the suit holding up?_ "

"Handles like a dream."

" _Good. By the way, I think we should have codenames or something, because let's face it...you're a superhero now. I thought of one for myself: Database._ "

"Ooh, I like it," he said. "I'll think of something for myself. All right, now let's see what this thing can do. What's SR-71's record?"

" _Record for fixed wing flight is 85,000 feet,_ " Max answered.

"Records are made to be broken! Come on!"

He then began to fly up high into the atmosphere.

" _If you're gonna actually do this Dad, I'm warning you now. You've already reached the mesosphere, there's an extremely high risk for icing up._ "

'Sir, Max is once again right. There is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring.'

"Keep going!," Tony insisted. "I can do this!! Please stop doubting. Higher!"

" _I'-m- n-t d—in y-._ "

Then all coms with his son were killed as the ice had frozen everything on his suit and he began to descend down towards the ground.

"We iced up, JARVIS! Deploy flaps!," he yelled. "JARVIS?! Come on, we got to break the ice!"

It was then that he knew that he lost contact with JARVIS as well. He reached for his leg and manually deployed the flaps, breaking the ice and slowly turning the suit back on, and the thrusters started again just before he reached the ground.

" _Dad!!!! Dad, do you hear me?!!_ ," Max yelled.

"Max!! Max!! It's alright. I'm here."

"... _Please don't do that again until we upgrade the suit more. I just got you back, I don't want to lose you again. That's why I was warning you the way I was. Can you please come back so that I can feel better?_ "

"...I'm on my way back. I'm sorry for worrying you," he said back and then flew off and hovered over the house roof. But it was then that Max decided to get some payback.

" _JARVIS, kill power to the suit_ ," he said over the coms and Tony's eyes widened when he said this as he fell straight through the roof, went through the piano and onto one of his cars. Tony then lifted up his head to see his smug son looking at him.

Then for a cherry on top, Dum-E then used the fire extinguisher on Tony...who wasn't even close to being on fire.

Tony got out of the suit and went to get an ice pack and then remembered the gift Pepper had left him. He opened it as Max watched him do it. It was a small display for his old arc reactor, with an inscription on it.

 _Proof that Tony Stark has a heart._

Tony smiled at this, and so did Max.

"Here," Max said and handed him an ice pack. "...I have a vague idea of what you're planning to do with this suit, Dad. All I ask is...that you're careful when you do it."

Tony then looked at his son andcould see the fear in his eyes, scared that he could lose his father a second time.

"...I promise. Come here," he said back and gave him a one armed hug as his other one was indisposed.

Later on, they continued to look at any improvements they may add upon the suit.

"Notes. Main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude," Tony said.

"Looks like hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking icing is the probable factor," Max added and tony nodded in agreement.

'A very astute observation on both of you,' JARVIS said. 'Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems.'

"Connect to the sys. co. Have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure a fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?"

"Yes."

'Shall I render using proposed specifications?'

"Thrill me."

As JARVIS readied the specifications, the boys watched the news and saw that a party was being thrown at the Disney Concert Hall.

"Did we get an invite to that?," Tony asked out of curiosity.

'I hold no record of an invitation, sir,' JARVIS answered.

"By the way, where's your mother? She usually comes by around this hour to check up on us both."

Max didn't reply but simply pointed to the TV, meaning she was at that party.

"Stane is there as well," he added.

'The render is complete.'

JARVIS then showed a completely golden colored suit, but Max didn't need to be able to read his father's mind to see his dislike of the solid color.

"Little ostentatious, don't you think?"

'What was I thinking? You're usually so discrete.'

Then Max took a look around and then saw something that gave him an idea.

"Hey JARVIS."

'Yes, Max?,' he asked.

"How about you throw a little hot rod red in there?"

"Ooh, I like that idea," Tony commented.

'Yes, that shall help you keep a low profile,' JARVIS said, though Max could not tell whether or not if he was being sarcastic or not. After a few minutes, he spoke up again. 'The render is complete.'

JARVIS then brought up a new suit with both hot rod red and golden colors on it and Max could tell it was much more to Tony's liking.

"Yeah, I like it. Fabricate it and paint it."

'Commensing an automated assembly.'

"Estimated completion time is five hours," Max said.

"Don't wait up for me, boys!!," Tony yelled, and then he left and Max knew where he was going, to the party at Disney Concert Hall.

"JARVIS, do you have any ideas as to what my dad is planning to do with this suit?"

'I have calculated several different theories on the subject and the most likely one is that he intends to locate and destroy any Stark Industries weapons in the hands of terrorist groups such as the Ten Rings, the group that kidnapped your father.'

"...Then we'd best make sure that he stays alive through all of this," he said. "You with me on that, buddy?"

'As always, Max, I shall do whatever it takes to protect and aid the Stark family,' JARVIS answered. 'So yes, you can count on me.'

Max could definitely see that from now on, things in his life were just going to get weirder and weirder. What's worse was that he knew that he'd have to get weirder as well.

' _My life just keeps on getting more interesting_ ,' he thought to himself.

 **Hope this was good. I'll begin the next chapter with Tony and Max preparing for their first mission and then the rest of the movie. Hope you like what I do.**


	3. I am Iron Man

**This'll be the rest of Iron Man 1. Afterwards, it'll be a timeskip two years and go into Iron Man 2.**

 **I don't own any Marvel characters or the oc. OC belongs to sketchywolf.**

Tony later returned home with a somewhat shocked look on his face. He said nothing when he came back down to the shop and he sat down as he placed an arm of the newly painted Mark 3 suit on, and began to make adjustments to it and hooked it up to his reactor. He and Max had figured how to make the flight stabilizers into weapons as well, repulsors.

"What happened Dad?," Max finally asked.

"...Stane was the one who filed the injunction," he answered.

This shocked Max as well but his thoughts then turned to the tv which was reporting a group of terrorists known as the Ten Rings were beginning to seize control over a small village called Gulmira. Tony then got up and tested out his repulsor, destroying the glass doors to the lab.

"Little warning next time, please."

Tony didn't say anything really but they both knew what they had to do. Later on, Tony, wearing a special under suit, stepped onto a small platform and then it opened up and soon machines began to place the entire Mark 3 suit on him. It began with his legs, and as it finished and moved on to his lower torso, the machines began to placed the arms on him and then finally got to his chest and then finall placed the helmet and faceplate and he then flew off.

" _That's something that's not ever gonna get old,_ " Max commented over coms. " _Alright keep heading west and you should be over Gulmira in about an hour consider Big how fast you're going._ "

"Okay. Let me know when I'm over it," he said.

As he flew, Max's friend messaged him again.

" _Hey, haven't heard from you in a while_ ," she said.

"Sorry, I've been busy," he messaged back. "If you want to see what my dad and I have been working on, check out what's happening in a Middle Eastern village called Gulmira, might hear even more about it soon."

" _Okay. Hey, when you and your father are done with whatever you're working on, can you come and visit? I miss you._ "

"I miss you too. I was actually gonna ask if I could, do yeah, absolutely. But are you sure it's alright with your dad with me coming? I mean, your country doesn't try to interact with the rest of the world all that much."

" _Baba said it was fine if you are discreet about anything you may see. Besides, he literally could not say no as I have literally been begging him to let you come here for a very long time,_ " she said Max couldn't help but chuckle to himself a little.

"Okay, see you soon then," he said back.

" _See you soon_."

After a little while, JARVIS and Max detected screaming and gunfire coming from below Tony.

"Heads up Dad, or down in your case. You're directly below Gulmira."

" _Okay, I'm going in._ "

Tony then landed just as a Ten Rings member was about to shoot a civilian. He began to shoot at him but the armor proved its worth and deflected them. Tony punched him in the chest and threw him away into the wall of a collapsed building and used his repulsors on another, shooting him away. Then one charged at him and he used his repulsors on him as well. But when he turned his attention to the final soldiers, they were threatening to kill civilians if he didn't stand down.

" _I've got this one Dad,_ " Max said over coms.

Then on his computer back in Malibu, he isolated the soldiers and targeted them. Then backup projectile launchers appeared out of the suit's shoulder pads and killed all but the civilians. Then JARVIS detected someone attempting to make a call from behind a wall and Tony punched through the wall and pulled the man out from behind it and then he flew off.

"He's all yours," he said to the villagers as he flew off.

"Alright let's find those Jericho missiles and-," he began to say and then was knocked out of the sky and made a crater in the ground.

" _Dad, you alright?!!,_ " Max asked.

"Ugh...yeah...I'm good. What was that?"

" _Turn around._ "

He did as he said and saw a tank behind him, which fired again at him but he dodged it. He sent his own missile at it and then casually walked away as it explodes behind him. Then he hovers up into the air and destroys the Jericho missiles and flies off.

" _Great job Dad!! You did it!! Gulmira is safe!!_ "

" _We_ did it buddy, all three of us," he said.

'Sirs, Miss Potts has arrived,' JARVIS informed them.

" _...Don't worry, I've got this. Think you'll be fine without me?_ "

"Yeah I should be fine."

Back in Malibu, Max then went upstairs to see his mom walk over to him.

"Hey Mom," he said.

"Hey, oh sweetheart you look exhausted," she said worriedly. "Did you and your father stay up all night?"

"Kind of had to, given the knowledge he received last night. Uncle Obie was the one to file the injunction."

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"Yup."

"Where is your father, anyway?," she asked as they sat down.

"He went out to go jogging out at the canyons," he cleverly lied.

"...Typical. Left his only son all alone."

'Well, not entirely, Miss Potts,' JARVIS said.

"Oh right."

"You okay, Mom?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I can tell when something is bothering you. Does it have something to do with you and Dad dancing at that party last night?"

"Wait, you saw that?!"

"No," he said with a smirk.

She then just a shocked face but then calmed down when she realized that she shouldn't be surprised.

"You're most definitely mine and your father's son," she said and they both chuckled. "Well, I'll go talk to Obadiah about this and maybe the three of us can just have the night for ourselves."

"I'd like that very much."

She smiled and kissed him on the forehead and soon took off. Max then smiled widely afterwards.

'Max, your father seems to caught the attention the United States military,' JARVIS said and Max immediately ran back downstairs.

"Dad, what's going on?!!," he yelled once he got to the computer.

" _Max? Is that you?_ ," Rhodey said over the coms. " _He brought you into all of this too?_ "

"Uncle Rhodey? No, I brought myself into this. To make sure he doesn't kill himself. Guess there was a close call just now huh?"

" _That's right_ ," Tony said.

" _So what am I supposed to tell the press you guys?_ "

" _Uhh...training exercise. Isn't that the usual BS?_ "

" _It's not that simple._ "

Later on, Rhodey appeared on the news informing the public of a failed training exercise.

"It is," Max said to himself. "It is that simple."

"Hey sweetie," Pepper said coming back in and he began to panic as he Dad just got home.

"Oh...hey Mom!!"

"...What's going on?"

"What? Oh, nothing's going on. W-What's going on with you?"

"I need to see your father," she said beginning to go downstairs.

"Oh, hang on a second!!," he yelled trying to stop her.

"Ow!! Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!!," Tony yelled as they both came in and saw JARVIS still trying to remove the suit.

'Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt.'

"Come on, take it easy on me, it's my first time."

"What is going on here?!!," Pepper exclaimed and Max grimaced.

"...Let's face it. This is notthe worst thing you've caught me doing," Tony said trying to lighten the mood.

"...Are those bullet holes?! And you knew about this?!!"

"Well...kind of...," Max said. "I might or might not have helped build it."

"Tony!!!"

"Hey, I tried to keep it a secret from him!!"

"It's true but he just wasn't very quiet about it."

They could tell that they were not helping themselves and so they knew to just stop talking immediately.

"Max...go to your room for the moment," Pepper practicality ordered and he immediately obeyed.

Once he got to his room, he got a message from his friend.

" _That's what you've been working on?!!!_ ," she said.

"I'm guessing you saw the news, huh? Yup, it is."

" _Incredible. It's powered by the arc reactor, correct?_ "

"You got it. But right now though, my dad and I are in a lot of trouble."

" _Why?_ "

"My mom found out about it," he answered.

" _Ooh...too bad for you. I've gotta go now, see ya._ "

"See ya. Say hi to your brother for me."

" _I will_ ," she said.

A few days later, Pepper found Max and Tony fixing up the suit, repairing the damage it received.

"The suit proved its worth at least, huh?," Max said. "Able to withstand a middle from both a tank and an F-22."

Tony nodded then they saw Pepper.

"Hey. You busy?," he asked and she slowly shook her head. "You mind if I send you on an errand? I need you to go to my office. You're going to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all of the recent shipping manifests."

He then handed her a small flash drive like device as Max just watched them.

"This is a lock chip, it'll get you in. It'll probably be in under Executive Files. If not, then they put it on a ghost drive, in which case you'll need to look for the lowest numeric number."

"And what do you two plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?," she questioned, knowing the answer.

"Same drill. They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them. I'm gonna find my weapons, and destroy them."

"Tony...you know that I would help you with anything. But I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."

"There is nothing except this," Tony began. "There is no art opening. There is no benefit. There is nothing to sign!!! There is the next mission...and nothing else."

"Is that so?," she asked. "Well then I quit. And I'm taking our son with me."

She then gestured Max to come with her, but he didn't move.

"No, Mom," Max said. "Dad is right. We need to do this."

"Max, you don't understand what it is he's doing."

"I understand just fine. He's doing the right thing."

"You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the the benefits of destruction. And now that I'm trying to protect the people that I have put in harm's way, you're just going to walk out?"

"You're gonna get yourself killed, Tony!!," Pepper argued. "You and our son!! I won't be apart of that. Nor will I allow Max to be apart of it as well. Please, Max, come with me."

"I can't. I love you both very much, but I lost my father once, I won't lose him again."

"I shouldn't be alive, you know?," Tony said as he sat down in a chair, making them both look at him. "Unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, you guys. I just...finally know what I was always meant to do. And I know in my heart that it's right."

Pepper just stared at them both as Max placed a hand on Tony's shoulder then looked at his mother.

"Please, Mom, help us with this," he said. "If not for Dad, then do it for me."

After a moment, Pepper grabbed the lock chip and began to walk away. But then, she stopped and looked back at them.

"You're all I have too," she said to Tony then she walked out. After a while, they both got back to work.

Later that night, after they had finished fixing up the suit, they started to watch tv when Tony got a call from Pepper, only when he answered it, a high pitched humming started. Suddenly, Max and Tony were completely paralyzed.

"Breeathe," Stane said, making himself known and helping them both back down into the couch. "Easy, easy. You remember this one, right?"

He lifted up a small device in his hands.

"It was meant to be an interrogation and capture device for the military, Max. It's a shame that the government didn't approve it. There's so many applications for causing short-term paralysis."

He then stood up straight and looked down at Tony.

"You know, when I ordered that hit on you," he began and everything began to make sense. The injunction, his resistance to the change in the company, everything. He has been the one dealing under the table, he tried to have Tony killed so that the company could be his. "I was worried that...I was killing the golden goose."

He grabbed another device Max didn't recognize and placed it over the arc reactor.

"But you see...it was just fate that you survived that," he said pressing something on the device and pulled Max's reactor out of his chest. "You had one last golden egg to give. Do you really think that just because you have an idea, that it belongs to you? ...Your father...he helped give us the atomic bomb. Now, what kind of a world would it be today if he was as selfish as you are?"

He then ripped the reactor from out of his chest.

' _No..._ ,' Max thought to himself and he tried to move but he still could not move. Then Stane turned to him.

"I am so sorry that it had to come down to this, my boy," he said. "I always thought of you as my own son, even though I always knew that you hated me."

Then he sat down next Tony and just looked at the reactor.

"Oh, it's beautiful. Tony, this is your Ninth Symphony. Oh, what a masterpiece! Look at that! This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons...with this at its heart. Weapons that will help steer the world back on course and put the balance of power in our hands. The right hands."

He placed the reactor and the device back in his suit case.

"I wish you could've seen...my prototype," he said and Tony and Max once again were shocked.

' _He built his own suit_ ,' they both thought.

"It's not as...well, not as conservative as yours."

Then he went over and picked Max up in his arms.

"It's too bad that you had to involve Pepper and your son in all of this. I would have preferred that they lived."

He then walked out and put Max in the back seat, then knocked him out just in case the paralysis wore off on the way. The last thing Max saw was Obadiah looking at him with a slight smirk on his face before everything went dark.

Max soon awoke to the sound of machinery turning on, and saw Stane place his reactor inside the massive suit he had created.

"Impressive isn't it?," Stane asked, knowing that he had awoken.

"...It's a little big," Max commented, seeing that the suit was three times bigger than his father's. "What's your codename for it? Iron Monger?"

"Didn't really have one but Iron Monger's not bad."

"You won't get away with this. You should never underestimate the Stark family."

"What can your father do to me?," he asked, walking up to him with a gun in his hand. "He's likely dead by now, just as you will be."

Then as he was about to kill him, Max kicked him in abdomen and used a sharp piece of metal nearby to cut the restraints he had on and he hen ran out with Stane shooting at him, just as there was a small explosion at the doors and so he retreated back to the suit.

Max was then met by his mom and five agents, including the one who he met at the press conference.

"Mom!!," he yelled.

"Max!!," she yelled back and hugged him tightly. "What happened?"

"It's Stane. He took Dad's reactor and is using it for his suit. It's massive, three times larger than Dad's and it's...based off that."

He then pointed to smaller metal suit, which Max could only guess was the Mark One suit.

"We'll take a look around, Max, stay close to your mother, keep her safe," Agent Coulson said.

They all then spread out and he and Pepper then heard some chains rattle and they went over to investigate it. When they got close, two eyes then lit up and began to tower them.

"Run!!," Max yelled and they both ran as the agents fired at Iron Monger, but he easily squashed them and he continued to try to grab them, but they were able to escape him...for now.

" _Pepper!! Max!!_ ," Tony yelled over the phone.

"Tony!! Thank God!!," Pepper yelled then Max took the phone from her.

"Dad listen, Stane's suit, it's massive, hope you've got it in you to beat him. How are you alive by the way?"

" _Mark One reactor_."

"Are you crazy?!! That's not gonna last-."

He was interrupted by Iron Monger crashing through the ground behind them.

"Where do you think you're going?," he said then readied the gun in his arm. "Your services are no longer required."

"Stane!!!!!!," Tony yelled as he dove towards. He tackled him and they went through the wall and onto the highway, also crashing through a semi trailer.

Then a car stopped in front of Stane and he then picked it up and over his head.

"I love this suit!!!"

"Put them down."

"Collateral damage, Tony."

"Divert all power to chest RT," Tony said and he shot Stane with his chest repulsor, but it did drain much of the power in the reactor he had. The driver then sped off, with Tony still on the hood. Eventually he was pulled under it, but he managed to get out from under it.

Just in time as well since the Iron Monger was speeding towards him and then grabbed a motorcycle and bashed Tony into a nearby bus. He then picked him up over his head.

"For thirty years I've been holding you up!!!," he yelled then forcefully throwing him back down then began to stomp on his chest. "I built this company from nothing!!!"

Then he threw him back into the bus.

"And nothing is going to stand in my way. Least of all...you!"

He backed up and then fired a missile at him, destroying the bus and sending Tony up into the air. But he saved himself by turning on his jet boots.

"Impressive!! You've upgraded your armor. I've made some upgrades of my own!!!"

Part of Stane's armor at the feet began to shift and thrusters on them kicked in and he began to fly up to him.

'Sir, it appears that his suit can fly,' JARVIS said.

"Duly noted, let's get him out of here up into the atmosphere."

'Sir, with only 15% power-.'

"I know the math!!! Do it!!!"

Max and Pepper then saw them both fly up into the sky.

"What's he doing?!," Pepper yelled.

"...He's trying to end this now," Max said.

A few minutes later, they saw Tony slowly fall down into the roof.

"Dad, are you alright?!"

" _I'm almost out of power. I need to get out of this suit-._ "

Then Iron Monger dropped down and the two began to fight once again.

"...Mom, Dad. I've got a plan."

"What?/ _What?_ ," they both said at the same time.

"We have to overload the reactor and blast the roof."

" _Of course. Do it, it might be the only thing that can stop him._ "

"Well how are we gonna do it?," Pepper asked.

"I'm gonna do it," Max said.

"No, I'll do it. You go and get somewhere safe."

"Do you know how to open up all of the circuits at the central console?"

Pepper did not have answer as she knew that he had a point.

" _...Fine. When I get clear of the roof, I'll let you know. Then you'll have to hit the master bypass button. It's gonna fry everything up here._ "

"Okay, I'm going in now," Max said, walking back inside. "When was the last time this has been done?"

" _Never. Now, make sure you wait till I clear the roof. I'll buy you some time._ "

Max then began to turn everything on, beginning to overload the reactor. As he did so, Tony jumped onto the back of Stane's suit and began to scan for anything important.

"This looks important!!," he said then ripped out a bunch of wires. With that, everything went blind for Stane under the helmet. But he was still able to grab Tony by the head and threw him off and onto the large skylight.

He then opened up his suit so that he could see, still holding Tony's helmet.

"I never had a taste for this sort of thing, but I must admit, I'm deeply enjoying the suit!!," he yelled, then crushed the helmet and threw it back to Tony as he tried to get up. "You finally outdid yourself, Tony!! Youd have made your father proud!!"

Then, Max had finally been able to finish, the reactor was ready to blow.

"It's ready Dad, get off the roof!!," Max yelled then Stane began firing his machine gun, shattering the glass of the skylight. Then one fragment cut Max's face, leaving a cut over his left eye. "Ahhh!!!! Dad!!!!"

"How ironic, Tony!! Trying to rid the world of weapons, you gave it its best one ever!!"

"Max!!," Tony yelled.

"And now...I'm gonna kill you with it!!," Stane yelled, then fired a missile but missed...by a lot. "You ripped out my targeting system!"

"Time to hit the button!!"

"No!! If I do that, you'll be fried as well!!"

"Hold still you little prick!!"

Then Stane fires another missile that was much closer.

"Just do it!!," he yelled.

"You'll die!!!," Max yelled then another missile nearly makes Tony fall.

"PUSH IT!!!!"

Then Max finally did, but with the console hardly ever been touched, he was electrocuted by it slightly, but enough to stun him long enough for him to feel the full force of the arc reactor's energy overload and it sent him shooting out the doors and into the parking lot.

"MAX!!!!!!!," Pepper screamed and ran over and picked up her son as Stane began to fall down and was killed by the explosion caused by him falling onto the reactor.

As the last of Max's consciousness faded, some blue electricity could be seen flowing through his vein on his face, but Pepper had gotten too emotional to see this.

A few days later, Tony revealed himself as the newly named 'Iron Man.' He was now in a whole lot of trouble.

"What is wrong with you?!!!!," Pepper yelled. "You are such an ego maniac!!"

"Anyway...," Rhodey said. "I checked up on Max recently."

"We haven't been able to see him because of this, how is he?"

"Comatose. Doctor says he might not be waking up anytime soon."

Pepper then hugged Tony, despite being angry with him, beginning to tear up. Then they heard a phone go off.

"That's Max's," Tony said and he saw that there was a password to it. "Any ideas?"

"I do," Rhodey said and he took the phone and put in 'MOMDAD.' "It's from a friend of his. Shuri. Wants to know he hasn't been talking to her for the past few days."

There was a silence for a little while before Tony took the phone.

"Who's this Shuri?"

"Princess Shuri of the African country, Wakanda. The royal family and the Starks are close friends," Pepper explains.

"Hello, Shuri. This is Tony Stark."

" _Mr. Stark? Where's Max?_ ," she asked and he sighed before responding.

"There's been an accident...Max is in a coma."

 **Hope this was good. Next one will be Iron Man 2, and the Thor 1. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. See ya later.**


	4. Awakening

**Avenging Speedster part 4. There will only be a couple of parts from Iron Man 2. You'll see why soon.**

 **I don't own any Marvel characters or the oc. OC belongs to sketchywolf.**

It has been two years now since Tony Stark has become Iron Man, two years since his son, Max, had slipped into a coma after helping him defeat the Iron Monger.

Max now laid in a hospital bed, in one of the best hospitals in the world.

His doctor was simply looking over him, checking his condition when all of a sudden...the now thirteen year old boy shot up with a yell.

"DAD!!!!!!," he yelled, then he felt slightly weak for a moment then jumped out of the bed.

"Whoa, Mr. Stark!!," the doctor exclaimed. "Calm down. Come on, you need to get back in bed."

"W-W-Where am I?"

"In a hospital at a SHIELD base. You've been in a coma for a while."

"How long?"

"...Why don't we call your par-," he began to say before Max interrupted him.

"How long?!," he demanded.

"Two years," a new voice said. Max turned to see a tall, dark skinned man in all black and had an eyepatch over his left eye. "It's good to see you finally awake, Mr. Stark. I'll take it from here Doc."

The doctor nodded and immediately left the two alone.

"Who are you?"

"Colonel Nick Fury. Director of SHIELD. I bet you probably have a lot of questions, correct?"

"Yeah," Max said. "What happened to my mom and dad? Are they alright? Why am I at a SHIELD base? And what happened?!!"

"Tony and Miss Potts are perfectly fine. Though they have missed you. Agent Coulson believed that SHIELD might've been the only people with any tech that could be able to help you, considering the arc reactor overload you were struck by caused you to go into a coma."

"...Oh. Well, did it do anything to me?"

"Put some clothes on, and we'll take a walk," he said and he left so the boy could change.

Immediately, Max noticed one of the side effects of the arc reactor exposure. He was able to get up very easily, something he did not notice before, his limbs weren't in a state of atrophy, he could move them very easily. Also when he put a fresh pair of pants on and removed his hospital gown, he saw that he had grown more muscular, even had a six pack.

"...Wow...," was all he could say.

He finished up and found Fury still waiting for him. Max was now wearing dark blue jeans, a SHIELD grey long sleeve shirt and wore military boots as well.

"I'm gonna assume that you noticed the side effects," he said as they began to walk around.

"Yeah. If I were to guess, I would say that the exposure seems to have increased my body functions such as my metabolism, causing muscular growth and advanced healing."

"That was the doctor's guess as well. Now, listen...our scientists seem to believe that you could be given certain...unknown abilities because of this exposure."

"I get hit by an explosion of unstable energy and they think I'll be given superpowers?," Max questioned. "I think your scientists read too many comic books."

"No matter what, your body has been changed dramatically by this experience," Nick said. "Many people here believe that you could be the solution to cracking Dr. Erskine's formula."

"Erskine? The German scientist who developed the serum that created Captain America?"

"That is correct."

"And what do you think?," he asked and Fury smirked.

"I think...that you should be able to go home, and be with your parents. Would you like to call them?"

"Nah, I'll surprise them. One last question: How far is Malibu?"

"Your House is only about an hour or so away by car," a voice behind them said and they turned to see a familiar face.

"I know you, you're Coulson right?," Max asked and he nodded.

"Agent Coulson has offered to drop you off at home for you," Fury said beginning to walk away. "So long for now, Max. I have a feeling we'll be meeting again soon."

Max then just shrugged and walked with Coulson to his car, a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette.

"Nice car."

"Thank you. Her name's Lola," he commented, as they got in. But then the car changed suddenly, and began to hover.

"Magnetic levitation. Impressive. So what did I miss?"

"Well, Obadiah Stane is dead. The world knows that your father is Iron Man and the Stark Expo has just started."

"Not going to miss the man at all and why didn't I think of the name Iron Man?," Max said, saying the second part to himself. "Did you guys keep my phone?"

"No but we got you an updated one with all of your information on it," he said giving it to him as they were already halfway.

"Thanks. And thank you for helping my parents two years ago."

"Of course. It's what we do."

Max turned his attention to his new phone and quickly found his best friend's number.

"Hello, Shuri," he simply said. It did not take long to get a response.

" _MAX!_ _!! Thank goodness you're alright!!!_ ," she responded. " _When did you wake up?_ "

"About an hour or so ago. I still can't believe it's been two years."

" _I know. When your father told me, T'Challa immediately left to go and check up on you. I tried to go, but Baba wouldn't let me._ "

"It's alright," he assured hers. "I'm gonna keep my promise and visit Wakanda as soon as I can."

" _Thank you_ ," she said. " _That would make me feel better. You are the only friend I have besides my family._ "

"And you're mine," he said back.", then noticed they were parking. "Gotta go. Just got home."

" _Okay, I'll let my family know you're back too. Goodbye, Max_."

"Goodbye, Shuri."

They then parked on a road and drove the rest of the way up to the house and he stopped in front of the door.

"Thanks for the lift," Max said.

"You're welcome," Coulson said. "We may need to have you come back for some tests at some point in the close future, but we'll let you know ahead of time."

Max simply nodded and Coulson flew off and Max walked over to the front porch.

"Hey, JARVIS."

'Max!! How good it is to see you again!,' the AI said. 'I shall inform Mr. Stark and Miss Potts immediately.'

"No, wait!! Let's surprise them shall we?"

'...Very well, sir. Welcome home.'

He unlocked the door and he walked in to see his good friend and bodyguard asleep on the couch. Max quietly walked over to him and until he was over his head and slowly woke him up.

Happy slowly opened his eyes to see Max looking down at him and he let a scream and accidentally fell off the couch.

'I believe you've frightened Mr. Hogan, Max,' JARVIS commented.

"That was the plan, buddy," Max said helping the man up, and immediately getting a bear hug from him. "Nice to see you too, Happy."

"When did you wake up?!," he asked letting him go.

"Let's see. About... an hour ago. Mom and Dad here?"

"Yeah, there downstairs. It's good to see you again, kid."

He nodded and gave him a fist bump. He turned and headed down into the ship and saw that a lot had changed in two years, as expected. The shop was much bigger and and there were three large displays in one corner. Inside them were the suits Mark One to Three. Max then saw his parents clinking their wine glasses together.

"Congratulations, Miss Potts," Tony said. "On officially becoming the CEO of Stark Industries."

"Not the only thing to be happy about," Max said, startling them both and causing them to look at the source of the voice. When they turned their eyes widened greatly but they had huge smiles on their faces as they ran over to hug their son tightly.

"MAX!!!," Pepper yelled, holding her boy tightly. "You're awake!!"

"So I've been told. I would've called but I wanted to surprise you, did I succeed?"

"Uh...yeah!! You succeeded!!," Tony exclaimed. "When did you wake up?"

"An hour ago. Agent Coulson dropped me off," Max explained.

"Did you tell Shuri?"

"First person I told."

"Good, because she would regularly ask about you."

Tony nodded in agreement and hugged his son again. After a couple of hours of catching up and simply enjoying their time reunited again, Tony and Pepper called it a night. Max decided to stay up longer, saying that he's slept for good long while, something both of his parents understood.

Max began to just tinker with some stuff in the shop, simply passing the time. He began to catch up on the details he missed in two years. He was now at a table when his arm slid across it to reach a tool and his phone was pushed off the table. All of a sudden, time went into slow motion for him. He was shocked especially when he saw that he was moving normally. When he saw the phone was break against the floor, he quickly ran over and grabbed it, then everything went back to normal.

"What just happened?," he asked himself. "JARVIS, play any security footage of me of a few seconds ago."

JARVIS obeyed and showed a screen of him and he saw the phone fall and he just disappeared.

"Slow it down."

The AI did do and he could see perfectly of what had happened. He had moved so fast, it was nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.

"...JARVIS... delete this footage and any future footage that may occur," Max ordered. "Let's keep this between us, okay?"

'Very well, sir,' JARVIS said. 'You have my word. I shall not inform your parents or anybody else without your permission.'

"Get me Nick Fury's contact information."

He got and then called Fury, who almost immediately answered.

" _Mr. Stark_ ," he said. " _How may I help you?_ "

"...Tell your SHIELD scientists I said 'I'm sorry.' Because it's seems as though that they were right."

 **Hope this was good. Next part will be meeting Natasha Romanoff and Whiplash attacking, then Max will go back to SHIELD to have some tests run on him. See ya later.**


	5. Trouble in Monaco

**Avenging Speedster part five.**

 **I don't own anything. OC belongs to sketchywolf, rest belongs to Marvel.**

Max awoke and went throughout his usual way. Get up, clean up, then get some breakfast then head down to the shop.

"Morning Dad, morning Happy," he said as they trained on the way to the shop.

"Morning son/kid," they said.

Max went downstairs to the workshop and began his secret research on his new... abilities.

"JARVIS, analyze this sample of my blood. See what you can find."

He placed a small syringe of his blood into a blood analysis computer.

'The analysis shall take a few minutes, sir,' the AI said.

He nodded and he contacted Shuri.

"Hey. Something has happened to me," he texted.

" _What's wrong?_ ," she asked.

"The explosion... it did something to me. I'm fast... impossibly fast. I have superspeed."

" _You're kidding?_ "

"Nope."

" _...Whoa..._ ," was all she could say.

"Yeah... can you keep this to yourself? I don't want anyone to know," he asked.

" _Of course. Who else knows?_ "

"Well there's JARVIS, and then there's SHIELD. They both might be able to help me with this. I'll likely get more reliable help from the former."

" _Haha... probably. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know._ "

"I will. I'll let you know when I can visit," he said.

" _Okay. My Baba needs me for something so I gotta go. Bye._ "

"Bye."

'The analysis is complete, Max,' JARVIS said as he hung up his phone. 'Analysis shows reactor energy is present within your DNA strands. It seems to be supercharging your cells, causing the increased metabolism and accelerated healing. It also seems to have improved your homeostasis.'

"Why isn't the scar over my eye healed though?," he asked.

'It's possible that it is because that you received the injury before your exposure. Miss Potts is approaching, I suggest that you inform her-.'

"Mute."

Pepper then came into the shop along with a very beautiful woman with red hair that hung slightly off her shoulders and green eyes.

"Hey Mom."

"Morning, Max," she said. "Since I'm the company's new CEO, I'm gonna need a new assistant. This is Natalie Rushman. Thought you should meet her since she'll be here a lot."

"Hello, Mr. Stark. Very nice to meet you," Natalie greeted.

"It's very nice to meet you, Miss Rushman," he said.

"I'll let you two get to know each other a little."

Pepper then left and as soon as she did, Max looked at Natalie.

"So... who do you really work for?"

"I beg your pardon?," she asked.

"My parents have had quite a few assistants over the years... they were all women for my dad and some of them weren't even assistants, but that's off topic. They were all nervous and a bit all over the place trying to impress my Mom and Dad. Plus you don't seem to show any sign of stress, even if you're hiding it. I may not actually know what it's like, but I know enough to know how stressful it can be to be the assistant of a CEO, especially to one of Stark Industries, and you seem to be shrugging it off like it's nothing."

Natalie couldn't help but smirk at the kid's deduction of her.

"...I'm impressed," she finally said. "I was sent here by SHIELD."

"Huh... I was expecting a rival company like Hammer Industries," he admitted making her chuckle. "Don't worry about me exposing you. I owe them a few favors so I won't tell anyone. Why are you here though? Fury send you here to watch me after I informed him of my... condition?"

"No, I'm here to watch your father. What condition?"

Max showed her and he sped across the entire shop and stood right by her.

"...Whoa."

"That's what I said. So yeah... superspeed."

"Well then... I suppose we both have secrets to keep for each other," she said then began to walk out.

"So what should I call you when it's just us?"

"...My real name is Natasha, Mr. Stark."

"Max. You can call me Max," he said, and Natasha nodded and walked back downstairs. "JARVIS, delete that entire conversation from security footages."

'Already done, sir,' JARVIS said. 'And It has been replaced with a fake conversation.'

Shortly after she left, Natasha made a call.

" _Agent Romanoff,_ " Fury said on the other end.

"Director, it seems as though the exposure to the arc reactor energy has granted the young Mr. Stark incredible speed," she informed.

" _Hmm... interesting. Stick to your mission and watch Tony. Does Max know who you are?_ "

"He figured it out almost immediately."

" _Do you trust him?_ ," Fury asked.

"...In all honesty, yeah I do. Plus he did say that he owes SHIELD a few favors."

" _He does indeed. Carry on as ordered, but keep an eye on him as well._ "

"Yes, sir," she said then she accidentally bumped into a man her after she hung up. "Sorry."

"No harm done," he said. "You must be Pepper's new assistant."

"I am indeed. Natalie Rushman."

"Colonel James Rhodes, friend of the family. Is Max around?"

"Yes, he is. He's downstairs."

He nodded and the two went their separate ways. Rhodey immediately went downstairs as Max began to work on some sort of design.

' _Probably just catching up on any improvements Tony has made to the Iron Man suit,_ ' he thought to himself.

"Well, it would have to be light and thin, but still strong. Hook it up to some sort of visor or-," Max said but then JARVIS interrupted him.

'Colonel Rhodes is approaching,' he informed the thirteen year old.

"Hide everything."

JARVIS did so just as he came down.

"Uncle Rhodey!!"

"Hey, kid," he said, hugging his surrogate nephew tightly. "Glad to see that you're up and about. Really had us worried."

"Well, despite losing two years of living my life, it was worth it. I was able to save my father after all."

"Yes, you were. We're all very proud of you. You'd make a great soldier."

"Haha... well, I'm not that good at following orders," he joked, making them both laugh. "So... what were they like while I was asleep?"

"Not too bad, all things considered. They're working on their relationship, but you know Tony and Pepper."

"Yes... I do. So, I've heard that the military is starting to get jealous of my dad's suits."

"Haha... that's one way to put it, yeah," he said, chuckling. "The government believes that your father should be sharing his tech with them as other countries are attempting to copy the Iron Man suit."

"And Hammer Industries," Max added.

"Yup. During a recent hearing, your Dad said that most countries are ten to fifteen years away to developing Iron Man like suits. Hammer Industries, twenty."

"More like thirty. It's embarrassing how cheap his tech is."

"Mm-hmm. Well, your parents wanted me to let you know that the three of you will be heading to Monaco tomorrow, along with Happy and that new assistant, Natalie. So you should go and pack."

"Okay. It's good seeing you again, Uncle Rhodey."

Rhodey nodded and Max walked away to go and get ready for Monaco. As he was finishing up, however, he received a message from his best friend.

" _Hey, you there?_ ," Shuri asked.

"Yeah, what's up?," he messaged back.

" _Nothing, really. Just wanted to check up on you, see what you're doing_."

"Well, I'm packing for Monaco right now. Little family vacation there I think. Heard that there's a big race track near the hotel we'll be staying at so that's something to look forward to."

" _Cool! Hope you have fun there. Though, hopefully nothing bad happens._ "

"Yeah... I'd _really_ like a break from the action."

" _See ya,_ " she said before signing off, making Max to wonder why.

"That was weird," he said to himself.

"What was?," Pepper asked at the door.

"Oh, hey Mom. Shuri just messaged and asked what I was up to. Then she signed off on me once she got her answer."

"Sounds like she was a little nervous or just shy about asking you that. Or just wanted to make sure you were still alright. Over these past two years, I've developed little this theory that the princess may have a bit of a crush on you."

"Oh, Mom!! Not you too!!," Max exclaimed in annoyance.

"Hey, you're thirteen now. It's okay to feel that kind of stuff now," she said. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that she's had a crush on you since you two first met. But the real question is... do you like that way as well?"

"...Okay... maybe a little," he muttered.

Max then realized what he had just said, but by then it was far too late as he saw his mother with a smug look on her face. She then left, satisfied as she'd gotten her answer, and left him to finish up packing.

Max finished up and immediately went back downstairs to the shop.

A few days later, Tony, Pepper, Max, Happy and Natalie found themselves in a fancy hotel in Monaco. On the way in, Happy carried a fancy red suitcase for a reason unknown to Max.

"You know, it's Europe. Whatever happens the next 20 minutes, just go with it," Tony said.

"Go with it? Go with what?," Pepper asked.

"He's joking, Mom," Max said. "Probably."

"Mr Stark?," Natalie said, walking up to them.

"Hey, Natalie."

"Hello, Max. How was your flight?"

"It was excellent," Tony answered for his son, then walked ahead of them with Pepper and Happy.

"...Evidently, our flight was excellent," Max joked and they both chuckled and walked to catch up to them. "So how are you holding up as my mom's new assistant so far?"

"Not bad, all things considered. It is slightly difficult to keep up with all the paperwork and scheduling, but I manage," she answered.

' _Man she's a great actress,_ ' Max thought to himself.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Most of my parents' assistants go insane from either all that scheduling and paperwork or simply because of my dad."

"Is this us?," Tony asked, referring to an empty table.

"It can be," Natalie confirmed.

"Great. Make it us."

Max decided to wander around and soon walked near the bar and weasel looking man popped his head out to see him as Tony walked up to his son

"Anthony," the guy said. "Is that you?"

"My _least_ favorite person on Earth," Tony said quietly so the guy couldn't hear before turning around to shake the guy's hand. "Justin Hammer."

"Oh, this is Justin Hammer? Thought he looked familiar," Max said and then Justin's eyes widened.

"Wait a minute. You're Maxwell Stark. The kid hero!! I was told you were in a coma."

"You were told right. I woke up a few days ago."

"Well it's good to see you back up on your feet."

Max nodded in thanks and politely excused himself and sat with his mom and Natalie.

"How are you holding up, Mom?"

"...Oh, I've been better," she said with a sigh. "Your father can be so exhausting. Add that to being the new CEO of Stark Industries..."

"Well if anybody can handle it and do a great job at it, it's you, Mom," Max said, earning a one armed hug and a kiss on the forehead. But then he saw something strange on the tv. "Uh... speaking of Dad being exhausting..."

Pepper looked to see Tony getting into an open-wheeled race car.

"Natalie," Pepper said, beginning to stress out. "Natalie!"

"Yes, Ms Potts?," Natalie said, coming over.

"What do you know about this?"

"This is the first that I have known of it."

"This... this cannot happen."

"Absolutely. I understand. How can I help you?"

"Where's Happy?"

"I think I saw him waiting outside," Max answered.

"Okay, get him. I need Happy," Pepper said.

"Right away," she said walking away to do so.

As the engines of the cars started revving, Max just kept his eyes on his dad.

' _Something's wrong with him_ ,' he thought to himself as the race took off.

"What is going through your father's head?"

"...I don't know," Max lied as he had a few ideas as to what was going on. "But he's actually better at racing than I thought he'd be."

Pepper just just gave him a deadpan look and he returned it with sheepish smile.

All of a sudden, a man dressed in a orange pit crew suit walked out onto the track.

"What's that guy doing?"

The guy then opened up his suit and revealed a prototype, Iron Man like exosuit. Two handles appeared in his hands and whip like objects came of them and they turned on, electricity running through them. The heat from the electricity running in the suit across his body burned through the orange jumpsuit and it fell tattered to his hips. Then a car came at him and he turned to his side and slashed the front of the car clean off with the whips, and it flew into the air and crashed, frightening everyone there, especially Pepper and Max as Tony was approaching him quickly. Pepper looked to the exit as saw Happy with the suitcase. The three of them got into the car.

"Go, go," Pepper ordered and Happy immediately hit the gas and drove towards the track. They quickly came up to the track, but were blocked.

"Hang on," Happy said before crashing through the barrier and onto the track... heading the opposite way the race cars were going.

Meanwhile, Tony's car made it up to the man, who then spun his whips and sliced the front completely off and the car went up into the air and crashed, landing upside down. Tony quickly comes to, and sees the man coming towards him. As he walked, two more cars crashed into each other behind him and they explode, creating some fire behind him, while Tony began to try to get out of the car as he saw petrol dropping.

"Give me the case," Pepper said as they got closer.

"Here, take it," Happy said, handing it to her.

"Where's the key?!!"

"It's in my pocket."

"Car!," Max yelled, and Happy struggled to avoid cars while getting the key. "What's in that case?!"

"The case is a suit."

"...Oh."

The man comes in close and slices off more of the car, only to see Tony was gone. He came up from behind and hits him hard in the back of the head with a sheet of metal. The guy turns and slashes the metal in two and begins swinging the whips at him. Tony kept on dodging and jumping out of the way. Then the guy slices the the ground enough and sends Tony a distance away. He begins to walk again and starts swinging the whips in the air threateningly. He continues to do so then slashes at Tony but hits the petrol and the car busts into flames. Tony recovers from this to see that his arm was on fire and he quickly put it out.

Then Happy came in and rammed into the man, knocking him out for a moment.

"Are you okay?," Happy asked Pepper and Max.

"Yeah!!," they both said then Tony came up to the driver's window.

"Were you heading from me or him?," he asked.

"I was trying to scare him."

"'Cause I can't tell!!!"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!!!!," Pepper yelled. "GET IN THE CAR RIGHT NOW!!!!"

"I was attacked!!!," he continued and Max then saw the guy beginning to stir.

"Uh, Dad!! Get in the car!!," he yells and based on peer pressure, Tony gave in.

"First vacation in two years," he said and opened the door but it was sliced in half by the man.

"Oh my God!!," Pepper yelled and Happy backed up and rammed the guy again, but he kept on slicing at the car.

All the while, Max and Pepper kept on trying to hand Tony the case, but with the man swinging the whips and Happy ramming him over and over, it became very difficult to do so. That is until the man swimming one last time and a large chunk fell off the car.

It was then that Max got out and pressed something on his chest and repulses appeared on his hands, and began firing at the man, who simply swung the blasts away.

"Give him the case now!!! I've got him!!," Max yelled but then the man swung at him and his repulses were damaged, hands getting burned as well.

"Max!!!," Tony and Pepper yelled.

"Give me the case! Please! Come on!," Tony yelled and Pepper threw the case to him and it open and gauntlets appeared and Tony stood on it and placed a part of it on his chest and it began to spread across his body and soon became the Iron Man Mark 4 suit. Tony kicks the car away and turns back to the man.

"You're gonna regret that."

The man simply smirked and Max was able to get up a little and lean against the car.

"Max!! Are you alright?!!," Pepper asked, as he got the reactor and repulsors off.

"A little singed, that's all," he said as the fight began.

Tony readied a repulsor but the man swung at him, damaging it and swung again, damaging the other one slightly. Iron Man began firing with the other repulsor, but like with Max, he blocked the attacks with the whips. He swung again, but Tony caught it this time and he wrapped the other whip around him and pulled him up into the air and threw him onto the car and pulled off one whip, focusing all of the power on one, in hopes of killing him. But Tony would not have it that way and began wrapping the whip around his body so as to get up close to the man then he punched him in the gut and face before throwing him over his shoulder and Max ran over and ripped the arc reactor off his suit, and the whips were shut off.

The police arrived and began to drag him away and the man just laughed at him, yelling that he had lost. Tony looked at the reactor and analyzed it, then took it from his son and crushed it.

"How's this possible?," Max asked.

"I don't know," Tony said. "But I'm gonna find out."

Later on, on the plane ride home, Max got the scolding of his life.

"That was stupid and reckless!!!," Pepper yelled. "We just got you back!!! We can't lose you again!!"

Max stopped for a moment and truly thought about it and he realized that she's right. He had no idea how hard it must've been for them while he was in a coma. What he did could've gotten him killed and they would've lost him for good.

"...You're right. I'm sorry. I really am. But I can't just... sit back and watch as someone I love gets hurt or killed while I have a way to save them."

"...I know. I know you feel like you need to help. Just... think about how it'll affect others around you."

He nodded and gave her a hug, which she gladly returned tightly.

Then Tony came in and saw what they were watching, just a senator saying that he was wrong and that's he's basically a child.

"Mute," he said. "He should be giving me a medal."

He sat down Max smelled something.

"What's that?"

"This is your mother's... in-flight meal."

He took the top off the dish to reveal that it was completely burnt.

"Did... did you just make that?," Pepper asked.

"Yeah. Where do you think I've been for three hours? Max... can you step out for a moment? I need to talk to your mother alone."

"...Sure," he said and walked out, but not far so as he could hear what they were saying.

"Tony, what are you not telling me?"

"...I don't want to go home," he said. "At all. Let's cancel my birthday party and... we're in Europe. Let's go to Venice, Cipriani. Remember?"

"Oh, yes."

"It's a great place to be healthy. We can have happy bring Max home and it can be just the two of us."

"...I don't think this is the right time. We're in kind of a mess," Pepper said, not hearing what Max could hear in his father's voice.

"Yeah, but maybe that's why it's the best time. 'Cause then we can..."

"Well, I think as the CEO I need to show up."

"As CEO, you are entitled to a leave," Tony said.

"A leave?"

"A company retreat."

"A retreat? During a time like this?"

"Just a ride. Well, I'm just saying, to recharge our batteries and... figure it all out."

"...Not everybody runs on batteries Tony," Pepper said, and Max walked out to talk to the only person he could talk to.

"Hey, Shuri," Max said on a text message.

" _Max!! Glory to Bast, you're okay. It's all over the news!! You are okay... right?_ ," she responded.

"Yeah I am. But I don't think my dad is. And it's not from the attack today."

" _What do you mean?_ "

"...I think my dad is dying."

 **Hope you liked what I did. Sorry if it seemed rushed at the end. Next movie after Iron Man 2 will be Thor, hope you like what I do. Anyway, I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. See ya later.**


	6. Not An Easy Fix

**Avenging Speedster part 6.**

 **I don't own anything. OC belongs to sketchywolf, rest belongs to Marvel.**

Max got up early to find his father down in the shop, testing mixtures of various elements.

'Sir, I'm afraid that we shall not find a replacement for the palladium core at this rate,' JARVIS said and Max's eyes widened.

"Ohh... come on," Tony said to himself.

"'Oh come on' what?," Max asked, surprising his father. "...Does mom know that you're dying?"

"...No... no. I was gonna tell her on the plane..."

"But you wussed out. I understand why you didn't tell me as I've been in a coma but that was a week ago now. Why didn't you ever tell me?!!"

"Same reason why I haven't told your mother," Tony answered.

"You were trying to fix it yourself. And do it alone. Fine. I'll get you the help you need."

Max then stormed off upstairs, barely missing his mom coming in.

"...Natalie, could you go check on him while I go have a talk with Tony?," Pepper asked, slightly reading the situation.

Natalie nodded and walked upstairs to see Max was waiting for her.

"You okay?," she asked.

"You might want to close the door behind you," Max suggested and she did so. "My dad is dying of prolonged palladium poisoning."

"We knew something was wrong, now we know what. I'm guessing you figured it out in your own."

"Again!! God, my Dad's got such a large ego!! He thinks he spares us pain by keeping my mom and I in the dark. He's just so frustrating at times."

He sat down on his bed and Natasha sat next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I know how that can be. Truly. I'll let Fury know, he'll know what to do."

"...Thanks, Nat. Can I call you Nat?"

"Haha...yeah, that's fine with me," she said before hugging him, which he gladly returned.

"There is something else," Max said and they let go. "Anton Vanko. I heard my Dad say that name before, does it mean anything to you?"

"No. But maybe there's something in the SHIELD records. I'll take a look."

She got up and opened the door to leave but stopped for a moment to look back at the teen.

"You're a good kid, Max. Don't you ever change. We need people like you in this world."

He gave her a little smile before walking out and Max went to talk to Shuri.

'Hey, I was right,' he messaged. ''My Dad's dying of palladium poisoning.'

' _I'm sorry, Max. I really am_ ,' she messaged back. ' _Are you going to help?_ '

'Yeah, I've got SHIELD to help. But Nat was the one to really help me just now, especially since my dad was gonna keep it from me.'

' _Who's Nat?_ '

'My mom's new assistant. She's been like an older sister to me this past week since my mom became CEO.'

' _...Well... I'm glad you've got someone like that now as well, like I've got T'Challa._ '

'Yeah, especially since I'm also way smarter than she is,' he agreed, missing the hidden time in her response. 'Though something tells me only by a little.'

' _Yeah. Hey, I have to go now, so talk to you later._ '

'Okay. Bye.'

He then put his phone away and some time later, he began to hear loud music being played and cane out to see his dad in an Iron Man suit, clearly drunk and causing a big scene, making a fool of himself.

He quickly found his mom and Natalie.

"Mom, what's going on with Dad?," he asked. "He never gets _this_ drunk on his birthday."

"I wish I knew. I don't know what's gotten into him," she said, and Max and Natalie looked between each other.

' _He's given up hope of curing himself,_ ' he thought to himself.

As they watched, Rhodey arrived, talking to one of his superiors, as he had been trying to stop the military to barging in and taking the suits from Tony.

"Yes, sir, I understand," he said as he got out of his car. "No. No, sir, that will not be necessary. I'll handle it. Sir, I personally guarantee that within 24 hours, Iron Man will be back on watch."

He hung up and walked inside to see Pepper walking out.

"Hey Pepper."

"I'm gonna go get some air."

"What's wrong?"

"It's Dad," Max said showing his uncle what Tony was doing. "And we're not exactly sure what to do."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Rhodey said as Tony fell over in the suit. "That's it. I'm making..."

"No, no, no. Don't call anyone."

"Pepper, this is ridiculous. I just stuck my neck out for this guy."

"I know, I know. Just let me handle it," she said and walked over to Tony.

"Handle it. Or I'm gonna have to."

"You know, the question I get asked most often is, 'Tony, how do you go to the bathroom in the suit?,'" Tony said then he stood still for a moment and his eye twitched. "...Just like that."

This caused some cheering and then Pepper came up.

"Does this guy know how to throw a party or what?," she said through the microphone and they continued cheering.

"I love you."

"Oh, unbelievable!! Thank you so much. Tony, we all thank you so much for such a wonderful night. And we're gonna say good night, and thank you all for coming."

The crowd soon began booing at her and Tony began complaining as well. Max could see what was gonna happen next though.

"I think I'm gonna go down to the shop," he said and did so. Soon he heard his father on the microphone again, saying the party was indeed over. And then said the after party was gonna start and pretty much kicked Pepper out.

Soon, Uncle Rhodey cane down and got out the Mark II suit out. Max was shocked at him being able as he thought they were all only coded for his dad.

He began to watch over security footage of Rhodey and his dad wrestling all around the house, eventually scaring everyone away and Natalie came down.

"I need you to come with me," she said and he immediately obeyed. "Agent Coulson will call your mother and tell her that you're with him."

"Okay," he said getting in her car and then there was an explosion. "So that's what happens when you fire repulsors at each other."

As they drove off, Max saw Rhodey fly off with the Mark II.

"Dad... why didn't you ask for help? Now look what's happened."

"Sorry your Dad has screwed up your life," Nat said, trying to comfort him.

"Eh... not the first time. Won't be the last. This time was just worse than usual."

They drive off to her place where Fury and Coulson were waiting.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Stark."

"You as well... Director... Fury...," Max said slowly before losing consciousness out of nowhere.

"Max!!," Nat exclaimed as she caught him and put him on the couch. "He's just unconscious."

"Let's get a doctor in here," Coulson ordered a guard.

Soon as doctor arrived and examine the boy, ran some tests before walking over to Fury.

"The exposure and supposed super speed seems to have increased how many calories he burns every day," he said.

"He's burning calories faster than normal?," Fury asked and the doctor nodded.

"His metabolism must've been increased even more than we suspected. He should wake up soon, but have something for him to eat when he does."

They nodded and the doctor left. Like he said, Max awoke a few hours later.

"Oh... what happened?," he asked.

"You just fainted out of nowhere," Nat said. "Doctor said it was because of a very low calorie intake. Which reminds me..."

She grabs a box of donuts and hands them to him.

"Oh, thanks. Cause I'm starved."

This got a chuckle out of the SHIELD agents.

"So, what'd I miss?," he asked.

"Colonel Rhodes took the Mark II suit to the military where Justin Hammer will weaponize it," Coulson said.

"That's not possible. I personally placed redundancies in the security base to prevent unauthorized usage of any of the Iron Man suits. That's what I don't understand. How my uncle could've even put that suit on."

"Sounds to me like your father has indeed given up hope of saving himself," Fury said as Max continued to eat. "We also lost track of him after Rhodes left. Any idea where he might be?"

Max thought for moment before speaking after looking down at the box of donuts.

"...There's one place he goes to when he's trying to get over a extreme hangover," he said and pointed at the logo on the box. "He ought to be there by now."

They then headed to the donut shop where the staff was soon sent home and they found Iron Man in the donut sign as the sun rose.

"Sir!!!," Fury exclaimed. "I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut!!!"

He looked down to see the one-eyed director there as well as his son, with a very angry look on his face.

"I told you, I don't want to join your super secret boy band," Tony said as he sat across from Fury at a booth inside as Max walked outside as he couldn't be in the same room as his father at the moment.

"I'm this close to speeding over and punching my father in the face," Max said to Coulson.

"Might not be the best idea right now. Especially if you wish to keep these abilities from your parents," he said. "Out of curiosity, why do you want to keep it from them?"

"They have their secrets. Now I have my own. But that's not the real reason. It's because I think the less they know, the less likely they'll be in danger. Cause if anyone were to learn about my abilities..."

"...Sounds like a good reason. But I wouldn't keep it secret for too long."

"Maybe," Max said.

Soon enough, they all packed up and brought him and Tony home, where he was just how damaged it all was.

"I'm getting more and more pissed off at you, Dad."

Tony didn't say anything and walked over to where Fury was and they sat down at the destroyed balcony.

"That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology," Fury said.

"No, it was finished," Tony argued. "It has been particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my..."

"No, Dad. Grandpa said that the arc reactor was the stepping stone towards something greater," Max countered, with Fury backing him up with a nod.

"And just how do you know that?"

"Well, since you wouldn't tell me anything about him, I looked into him on my own."

"And I recently confirmed everything he'd learned over that time he looked into Howard. He was about to kick off an energy race that was gonna dwarf the arms race. He was onto something so big that I was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a AAA battery."

"Just him, or Anton Vanko in on this too?"

"Anton Vanko is the other of the coin. He saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out, he had him deported. When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver, they sent him off to Siberia where he spent the next few decades in a vodka-fueled rage. Not an environment you want to raise a kid in. A son you had the misfortune of crossing paths with in Monaco."

"You told me I hadn't tried everything. What do you mean I haven't tried everything?," Tony asked. "What haven't I tried?"

"Howard said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started," Fury said.

"He said that?"

"Are you that guy? ...Are you? Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of your heart? And with Max here to help you, you just might find it in time."

"...I don't know where you get your information, but he wasn't my biggest fan."

"What do you remember about your dad?"

"He was cold, he was calculating. He never told me, he loved me. He never even told me he liked me, so it's a little tough for me to digest when you're both telling me he said the whole future was riding on me and he's passing it down. I don't get that. You're talking about a man who's happiest day was when he shipped me off to boarding school."

"That's not true," Fury stated as he drank his drink.

"Well, then clearly you knew my dad better than I did," Tony said.

"Actually, Dad, he did," Max said and Tony looked at his thirteen year old son. "Grandpa was one of the founding members of SHIELD. Next to Peggy Carter and Colonel Philips."

"That's right."

"Wait, what?"

"I got a two o'clock," Fury said getting up. "You're good right?"

"Yeah we're good," Max said.

"No, I'm not good," Tony stated.

"You got this, right?"

"Got what? I don't even know what I'm supposed to do."

"That's why I'm here, Dad."

"Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. You remember Agent Coulson, right?"

"Yeah, he's the one who brought max home after he woke up."

"Yup. And Tony," Fury said, and Iron man looked at him. "Remember... I've got my eye on you. See ya, Max."

"See ya, Nick."

"We've disabled all communications," Natasha informed. "Only Max can leave freely and can have contact with the outside world. Good luck."

"See ya later, Nat," Max said

"See ya, Max," she said as she left and then Tony turned towards Coulson.

"Hey. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one if your goon squad down to the Coffee Bean, Cross Creek, a Starbucks or something like that, that'd be nice."

"I'm not here for that," Coulson said. "Max and I have been authorized by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on the premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase and watch Supernanny while you drool on the floor."

"Can I be the one to tase him?," Max asked, earning a frightened look from his father.

"Who's side are you on?"

"Theirs," Max answered coldly, and walked down to the shop.

"I know it's really none of my business, but should've at least told your son. Max has made it clear to me, Agent Romanoff and Director Fury that he is furious with you. He feels like you betrayed him. You might want to apologize."

He left to check everything and Tony thought on what he said. He knew Coulson was right, and he knew what he had to do and he walked downstairs and found his son already looking over Howard's notes.

"Max...," he said and he looked up with a frown on his face. "...I know this probably doesn't mean much anymore, but... I'm sorry. I really am. For everything. For not telling you I'm dying, for not telling your mother. And I'm sorry for treating her the way I did last night."

"...I don't necessarily care what happened last night. You were drunk as hell," he said walking over. "What I do care and what I'm angry with you about is that you were willing to keep this secret _again_. You were willing to go through it alone... and I would've lost my father and I wouldn't know why."

He then hugged his father tightly and he returned it, tears forming in both of their eyes slightly.

"You can be such an egotistical jerk sometimes. Meaning you usually truly mean it when you apologize. So, I'm will to forgive you. But I will _never_ forget it."

"...Yeah, I think I deserve that. Shall we get to work?"

He nodded and they began to look through the things.

"Out of curiosity, how long did you know that Natalie was a spy?"

"Since day one."

"W-What?!," Tony exclaimed and Max just smirked and nodded in confirmation. "How?"

"She seemed pretty calm to be the new assistant of the new CEO of Stark Industries. Which by the way, Mom is even more pissed off at you than I am."

"Yeah, I figured. You didn't tell her right?"

"As far as she knows, I'm with Coulson, a man she trusts, which is kind of right. But no I haven't told her, not my place to. Hey check these out."

Tony comes over and sees his son has film rolls.

"Must be rehearsals of that one film of Grandpa you showed on the first day of the Expo. Do you have player?"

He nodded and they began watching the films. More of Max than Tony.

"Would Grandpa have liked me, do you think?," Max asked his dad.

"I'm not sure about him," Tony answered. "Your grandmother however... would've loved you. Sweetest woman you would've ever met."

"You know I think Grandpa loved you a lot. He just didn't know how to show it."

"...Maybe."

"... _Tony,_ " Howard said on the film and they both looked. " _You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I'd put it on film for you. I built this for you. And someday you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day, you'll figure this out. And when you do... you will change the world. And then, perhaps... your own children... will change everything. What is and always will be... my greatest creation... is you._ "

The film then stopped and Tony and Max just continued to stare at the wall.

Max's phone then went off and he saw that Shuri was messaging him and Tony nodded to him that he'll be fine alone.

' _Hey, how's your dad?_ ,' she asked.

'We might be one step closer to finding a way to save him. And it's all thanks to SHIELD and my grandfather, Howard,' he said.

' _I'm glad to hear it. So you've forgiven him then?_ '

'Oh no. Far from it. It may be a while before I forgive him. I will eventually, but I'm not gonna forget it.'

' _Understandable_ ,' she said. ' _What will you do once you find the way to save your father_?'

'I think I'm gonna try to get away from it all for a little bit,' he messaged back. 'So much has happened in only a week. Too much. When I got home, my dad was acting like he was getting everything ready for his death. Practically gave the Mark II suit to my Uncle Rhodey, who has given it to the military. Made my mom CEO of his company, then begins to push them both and me away. I need a vacation. Maybe this can be the way for me to come by and visit you.'

' _That'd be great!! I can't wait, but how are you gonna get your parents to let you come? I doubt they'd let come to Africa alone._ '

'I think my friends at SHIELD can me with that, first to get away from Malibu, then eventually Wakanda I'm sure.'

' _Okay,_ ' she said. ' _Then I guess I should expect you at any time, right?_ '

'That sounds like a logical plan,' he said then he heard a car take off and saw that his dad had broken the perimeter. 'Oh boy. My dad just left. He wasn't supposed to do that.'

' _Poor him. How are you doing? With your powers and such?_ '

'Recently found out that I need to increase my calorie intake by a lot as my increased metabolism causes me to burn calories a lot faster than normal. Small price to pay I suppose. Great thing is that I can come up with new inventions so much faster now. Like those repulsors I made when I fought that Whiplash guy in Monaco, I made those the day before.'

' _That...sounds very handy. I must go now. Talk to you later._ '

'Bye,' Max said and then got off his phone and messaged Coulson to meet with him.

"Hey, Max. What's up?," Coulson said when he arrived.

"Well, first, my dad broke the perimeter," he said making them both roll their eyes in annoyance. "Also, there was something I was hoping you could help me with."

"If I can, I'll help."

"Well, I know I'm just a kid, and I don't work for SHIELD, but I was hoping if you were reassigned at anytime that you could take me with you."

"...I think I could talk to Director Fury about it if I were to be reassigned," Coulson said. "But why would you want to come with me?"

"Well first, because I consider you a friend. And also, I just... need to get away from all of this. Need time to think things through. Besides I've been meaning to leave visit a friend of mine in Africa anyway. Going with you might give me the chance to get there."

"What if I don't go to Africa?"

"You'd be surprised by what I can get away with," Max said.

"...Alright," he said. "If anything comes up, I'll think of an excuse to tell your parents that I'll need your help on something."

"Thanks... you know I never got your first name."

"Phil. Phil Coulson."

"Well thank you, Phil."

"No problem. I've gotta get going so I'll talk to you later."

Max nodded and Phil soon left as Tony came back, with a very large model of the 1974 Stark Expo.

"What're you doing Dad?," Max questioned.

"Well...," he explained as JARVIS began scanning the model. "I went to go and try to apologize to your mother and try to tell her I'm dying. But none of the right words came out. Replaced by a lot of I's. Why can't I talk straight with her like I do with you?"

"Because you're so in love with Mom, that you can never find the right words to say to her. But that's just a guess."

"...Yeah that sound about right."

'1974 Stark Expo model complete, sir,' JARVIS informed them and Tony lifted up the blue projection of the model.

"How many buildings are there?"

"Same as the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair," Max said. "140 pavilions, 110 restaurants and then that unisphere."

"Where do you store all that information and how do you get it?"

"Same place you do, Dad. So what is it exactly that you're looking for?"

Tony lifts the model upright, and sees something.

"What does that look like to you, JARVIS?," he asked. "Not unlike an atom. In which case the nucleus would be... here."

He pointed to the unisphere and soon Max began to see what he was doing.

"Highlight the unisphere, lose the footpaths, get rid of them."

'What is it you are trying to achieve, sir?,' JARVIS asked as he did this.

"I'm discovering... correction. I'm rediscovering a... new element, I believe."

"I see it too," Max said. "Lose the landscaping, the shrubbery, the trees."

This was done and Tony continued as well as he flicks the holographs of them away.

"Also get rid of the parking lots, exits and entrances. Structure the protons and neutrons using the pavilions as a framework."

JARVIS did this and the holograph looked like an atom and Tony expanded it and to surrounded him and his son. They both stared in awe at the scene, very impressed.

"...Dead for almost 20 years... and still taking me to school."

He then snapped and it was now in handheld.

'The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium.'

"Thanks, Dad," Tony said.

'Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize.'

"Well then... it's back to hardware mode," Max said and Tony nodded as he got up.

"Yup. Get ready for a major remodel, fellas!!," he said to the robot arms.

They both got to work immediately. Smashing the walls and floor to get to the major breaker boxes. But then Tony noticed something about Max that really surprised him.

"What the hell?! Since when are you so muscular that you've got abs?"

"Doctors said that it might be a side effect to the exposure to the arc reactor energy. Why? Jealous?"

"Not really, just surprised. Weird side effect."

"Yeah, well, I'm not complaining."

They got back to work and Tony soon got out large pipes to funnel power through and help create the new element.

A week or so later, Max has just finished fiddling with the wiring as Tony was trying to level out the piping when Coulson entered.

"Hey, Coulson."

"Hey, Max," he said then turned to Iron Man. "I heard you broke the perimeter."

"Yeah that was like three years. Where have you been?"

"I was doing some stuff."

"Yeah, well, me too and it worked. Hey, I'm playing for the home team Coulson, you and all of your... Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Now, are you gonna let me work or break my balls?"

He didn't answer as something had caught his eye.

"What's this doing here?," he asked showing what looked like a large red, white and blue frisbee. This made Tony stop for a moment.

"...That's it. Bring that to me."

"You know what this is?"

"It's a replica of Captain America's shield," Max answered. "It had been in my Dad's office for the longest time for some reason."

"And it's exactly what I need to make this work," Tony said, taking the shield from him. "Lift the coil. Go, go. Put your knees into it."

Max and Coulson did as he said and he placed the shield under it.

"There you go. And drop it!!"

They obliged and he placed level on the wire.

"Perfectly level. We're busy, what to you want?"

"Nothing. Goodbye. I've been reassigned. Director Fury wants me and Max in New Mexico."

"Fantastic. Land of Enchan- wait, what?" he said.

"Whatever is going on, it's in one of your son's areas of expertise. I've already spoken to Miss Potts about it and she agreed to let him go so long as he's safe."

"And what does Max say about this?"

"I'm going," Max said.

"I'll be waiting in the car," Coulson said. "A couple of agents have already packed for you. Good luck, Mr. Stark."

"Bye, thanks," he said shaking his hand, and the SHIELD agent left them. "I know that you're only going so that I'm out of your sight. I really am-."

"I know, Dad. And it's not just you," Max explained. "It's a lot of things. Ever since I woke up, I've been having things just plopped right into my lap. Nat turning out to be a SHIELD agent. The events in Monaco. You dying... it's all too much to take in right now. I will forgive you eventually as I've said before, but... I need time to think things through. Besides, I made a promise to a friend of mine a long time ago, and I'm gonna keep it."

Tony stood there for a moment before hugging his son once more.

"...Say hi to Shuri for me," he said and they both chuckled. "Goodbye, son."

"Goodbye... Iron Man."

Max then went upstairs, got dressed into fresh clothes, and drove off with Phil.

"...So you watch Supernanny?"

"Yeah... doesn't everybody?" he asked.

"I certainly don't."

They then just sat in silence for the most part. They were about an hour or two from where they were heading to, when Coulson stopped at a gas station.

"Gonna get us some breakfast. Need anything?"

"I'll have whatever you're getting, thanks," Max answered, then closed his eyes as he had fallen asleep at one point.

He was soon awoken by the sound of gunshots and he quickly got out and ran towards the building.

"What the hell's going on?!!," he yelled and saw two robbers were unconscious, the place a mess and Coulson buying a few packages of two different types of mini donuts.

"Everything's fine, Max," Phil assured him and placed some money on the table. "Keep the change."

"Wait!," the frightened cashier said. "What should I tell the police?"

"Tell them all those Tae Bo tapes really paid off."

He and Max then walked out and drove off.

"You're a strange guy, Phil."

"Thank you."

"So what is it exactly that we're going to New Mexico for?" he asked as he opened up one of the chocolate mini donut packages.

"There were some mysterious energy fluctuations out in the desert, and some crashed into the ground. They both originate from space."

"A meteorite?"

"We're not sure," he answered.

They continued to talk, getting to know each other better. Until they reached the crash site, where they saw a lot of people had already found it.

"Sir," Phil said to Fury on the phone. "We found it."

Max just continued to look and saw that the object that crashed was no meteorite.

It was a hammer.

 **Now we're into the first Thor movie. Hope you like this, and I hope you're glad that it's longer than usual. I know it might've seemed a bit fast paced, but I wanted to get to this part. Until the next chapter is up, see ya later.**


	7. The Man in Pain

**Thor 1 part one.**

 **I don't own anything. OC belongs to sketchywolf, rest belongs to Marvel.**

"Are you sure this is it, Phil?," Max asked as he and other SHIELD scientists inspected the hammer. "I mean it's a hammer. A war hammer at that."

"This is the point of origin, yes," he answered. "These guys will give me a big scientific answer, so let's hear your answer in English."

"Well... based on the writing on the metal, I'd say they are Norse runes."

"Norse?"

"Viking mythology, like Odin and Loki."

"Oh..."

"Anyway... if that's the case... and it did fall from the sky... and based on this symbol on the side of the head," Max continued. "This looks an awful lot like Mjolnir. The Hammer of Thor, Norse God of Thunder."

"Thor... he's Odin's son right?," he asked.

"One of them. But don't do anything based off my assumption. The gods of Asgard aren't real."

"Suppose we'll find out. For now, I need to stay by the agent I've chosen to watch you, as I'll be busy running this operation."

Max nodded and took a look around and saw that SHIELD had isolated the hammer and the crater. They were surrounded by structures covered by plastic, and computers and scanners in each floor. Max followed a guard to the agent assigned to him.

He seemed to be about six inches taller than him, well built, light brown hair and had that look that said he's seen a lot and did a lot, but for the right reasons. He wasn't sure why, but the man seemed trustworthy to Max almost immediately.

"Hey, kid. You must be Max Stark," he said.

"Yeah, that's me," he said, shaking his hand.

"Agent Clint Barton. Codename: Hawkeye. I'm Natasha's partner."

"Oh yeah... now I remember. She mentioned you once."

"Yeah? Good things, I hope."

"Nope. All bad things."

They both got a good chuckle at this joke. The pair began to walk around, getting to know each a little better.

"So you're called Hawkeye cause you never miss with a bow and arrow?"

"That's right," he answered proudly, and Max then smirked.

"Prove it," he said, and Clint just returned the smirk.

Sometime later, they were just outside the complex, with guards and Coulson present, Clint had a target and a bow and arrow ready. Max still had his smirk on and Hawkeye readied his shot and quickly took it and time began to go slow for the Stark boy.

He then began to quickly catch up to the arrow and he grabbed hold of it and intentionally made it miss the bullseye. Then he sped back to Barton's side, who gave a shocked expression.

"Never miss, huh?," he joked and everyone began to laugh a little at the kid's prank.

"Hahaha, you're hilarious, kid. But how did you do that?"

"You don't know? Well, you heard about me being in a coma right?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"Well, it seems I woke up with superpowers. I'm incredibly fast. Actually surprised I could do that. That's only like the third time I've used them."

"...I like you already, kid. We're gonna get along just fine," Clint said and they went back inside.

"How did you guys get all of this equipment so quickly?," Max asked Coulson.

"We confiscated it from a local astrophysicist, Doctor Jane Foster," he answered.

"Without her permission? Well, that wasn't very nice."

"That's how SHIELD works sometimes unfortunately. We did have every right to do though, besides we'll return it once we're done."

"Okay, that makes me feel better."

Max then sat down alone for a little while, thinking on how quickly his life been changed since his dad became Iron Man. He was exposed to reactor energy and put in a coma for two years and woke up with powers. His father was dying and now he hears his uncle is superhero now by the name of War Machine.

"You okay, kid?," Clint said coming in and sitting across from him.

"...Yeah. Just a lot has happened since I woke up a couple weeks ago. I discover I have powers, my dad was dying and was gonna push us all away to protect us."

"Yeah... that is a lot to process. But if I've learned anything from this job is that life can have dramatic changes come out of nowhere, but it's up to you whether or not you should change with it or stay the same."

Max nodded at this and then they heard fighting going on.

"Expecting company?," Max asked and Clint shook his head.

"Stay here," he said and grabbed a gun but changed his mind and grabbed a bow and arrow. He ran off to a nearby crane that had a little platform on it and had it raised high so he could find the intruder. Obviously, Max did not listen and went off to see what was going on. It was then that he ran into the intruder. He quickly got up and saw man he had never seen before.

He looked to be well over six feet tall, very muscular, long blonde hair and a short beard in the making.

"Out of my way, child," he demanded and something in his tone just made Max want to oblige him, which he did.

But as the man continued, Max began to follow him and figured out where he was going.

"Agent Coulson," Max said over the phone. "I just saw the intruder. He's going for the hammer."

" _Alright, stay out of sight. We'll handle this,_ " he replied.

' _Yeah, that'll happen,_ ' he thought to himself and continued to follow the man.

He got close when he saw the man fighting a rather large guard run past him and right through the plastic, with Barton watching, waiting for his orders.

The two men rolled around and wrestled for a while with Max watching until the man eventually overpowered him and kicked him in the face, rendering him unconscious. Max then backed out of his way again as he came back inside, and Barton saw him.

' _Well, the kid doesn't listen very well_ ,' he thought to himself and went back to the task at hand.

"You better call it, Coulson," Barton said. "Cause I'm starting to root for this guy."

Max was as well, though he wouldn't admit it and pointed the man in the right direction. He said nothin but continued towards the hammer.

"Last chance, sir."

" _Hold on,_ " coulson said as the man stood over the hammer with him and Max watching. " _I want to see this._ "

The three watched curiously as the man reached down to grab the hammer... only for it to not even budge as he tried to lift it.

He kept trying and trying, desperate to lift it. Eventually though he gave up and looked up into the sky, and yelled in frustration and sadness.

He fell to his knees and Coulson could see that he was done.

"Alright move in. Barton, stand down," he ordered and they swarmed in and cuffed the man.

As they took him away into an isolated area, Max simply watched as they did so, quite curious as to who this man was and why he wanted the hammer.

He watched over a live feed as Coulson interrogated the man. He left for a time and as he was gone, unbeknownst to anyone but Max as he was watching the screen closely, but the man started talking, to himself it seemed at first. But then it seemed like he was talking to someone else, but no one was there.

" _Goodbye_...," he said as Coulson came back in.

" _Goodbye? I just got back,_ " he said.

Max knew he needed answers so he sped over to the cell and knocked. Coulson quickly answered, not too pleased.

"Max, you _do not_ interrupt an interrogation!!"

"It's obvious he won't talk to you," he reasoned. "How about I try? Maybe he'll talk to me."

"...Alright," he said and turned back. "Maybe you'll talk to someone you know better than me."

And so Coulson left and Max came in and took his phone out. The man looked at him strangely when he saw how fast his hands were moving.

"...Okay. I've bought us about ten minutes to talk about anything you want. And no one will know what was said."

He sat down in the chair he brought with him, and they stared for a few seconds.

"My name is Max. Maxwell Stark," he said, but he said nothing back. "...I may not be as experienced nor have I been around for as long as everybody else here, but I know man in pain when I see one. You have the look of someone who's just suffered a terrible loss. I understand that a little."

"...Do you?," he said.

"Two years ago... I thought my father had been killed. It hurt to even breathe when I heard the news. But then I learn that he survived and had been kidnapped to build weapons for his captors, so that they could terrorize surrounding lands. But he escaped using his intellect, luck and a suit of armor."

"...Perhaps you do know my pain a little then, only my father truly is dead."

"I'm sorry about that, I truly am."

"...I am Thor, son of Odin," he said, finally introducing himself and making Max's eyes widen in shock.

"I don't believe in coincidence. So that means... that hammer out there really is...," he trailed off as Thor nodded. "The gods of Asgard are real. Wow. But...why are you here?"

Just then, Coulson came back in, with another man.

"Donny, Donny, Donny...," the man said. "Let's get you out of here."

"This is Doctor Erik Selvig, an astrophysicist and an associate of Doctor Jane Foster," Phil said. "Mr. Stark, since you seem to be quite interested in learning more about Donald Blake here, I want you to accompany them for now. While they're gone from here."

"...Alright."

The three of them then began walking over to Selvig's car when Coulson called out to them.

"Keep him away from bars!!"

"Will do!!," Selvig said.

"Where are we going?," Thor asked.

"To get a drink. Is that alright with you Mr. Stark?"

"Point me in the right direction of where you're staying at and it is," he answered as they got in.

"So... you're Maxwell Stark right? Iron Man's son?"

"Yeah. You can call me Max."

They sat in silence on the drive back to the nearby town. Erik dropped him off at a motor home and he and Thor headed towards the bar. Max knocked on the door and a woman with long brown hair answered.

"Uh... can I help you?," she asked.

"Doctor Jane Foster?"

"Uh, yeah that's me."

"Maxwell Stark," he said and she got out and quickly shook his hand.

"Oh, Mr. Stark!! I had heard on the news you woke up, congrats on that suppose. But why are you here?"

"Doctor Selvig and Thor dropped me off so they can both get a well deserved drink. I think Thor needs it."

"Oh. I-Is Thor alright?," she asked.

"Physically, yes," he answered. "I'm here to keep an eye on him."

She nodded and showed him in and began to fill in how they met. How some sort of storm like anomaly that he was in the center of.

"An Einstein-Rosenberg bridge? This close to Earth?"

"Incredible isn't it?," she said, then Thor came in carrying Selvig on his shoulder. "Oh my God. Is he okay?!"

"Oh yes, he's fine!," Thor exclaimed as he placed him on the bed. "We drank. We fought. He made his ancestors proud."

"I still don't think you're the god of thunder," he said drunkenly. "But you ought to be."

Then he passed out and the others decided to leave in peace and got on the roof of the main building that was Jane's lab. Max saw the looks they would give each other and smirked, so he decided to give them some time together alone.

An hour or so later, Selvig awoke for a moment.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Max joked.

"Oh... what happened?"

"Just drank a little too much. Go back to sleep."

"Where's Thor and Jane?," he asked and Max pointed upwards and he smirked before going back to sleep.

The Stark boy then decided to check on them and saw that Jane had fallen asleep in Thor's arms, and he smiled at this.

"Hello, Sir Stark," Thor said quietly, so as not to wake Jane.

Max nodded and sat in a nearby chair.

"What a night, huh?," he asked quietly.

"Hmm... you said your father escaped his captivity in a suit of armor, correct?"

"Powered by a little device called an arc reactor. It's also what's keeping him alive. He was injured during his capture and shrapnel is digging into his chest trying to reach his heart, the device stops it. But... when I woke up I found out the metal he was using for it was also killing him."

"Your father is now dying?"

"Not anymore. He fixed it with some help from my late grandfather. But he was gonna go through it alone. He tried to push his whole family away, trying to protect us from pain I suppose."

"Bit egotistical is he?," he said and Max nodded. "And your abilities, how did you get them?"

Max then began to tell his story to Thor. How his father became Iron Man and fought his old partner who became the Iron Monger. Then about the exposure to reactor energy, granting him his powers.

"I was in a coma for two years. I woke a few weeks ago," he said. "Then I find out about my dad dying, he made my mom the head of his family's company, SHIELD, the people you were fighting, had someone spying on him for some sort of evaluation. I left all that a couple days ago to get away from it all. But excitement followed me. Thanks for that I suppose."

They both chuckled slightly at this.

"Seems you've been through quite a lot in so little time, Max. Especially for yourself," Thor said. "You are a good person. Me... I'm not as mighty as I thought. I've became arrogant and cruel."

"Well, her liking you seems to say otherwise," Max said, referring to Jane. "We all become too sure of ourselves at some point. My father taught me this. Only thing we can do is to make things right the best way we can. And never give hope that things will get better. She and I were talking the entire time you were gone, and she never once said anything that didn't come back to you. She likes you. She also seems to be a good judge of character, so she must see something in you. If it means anything, so do I."

"...Thirteen years of age and already you sound like my father."

"Ha... being compared to Odin himself, wow," he said, making Thor smile a little at his reaction to his statement. "...What was he like?"

"He... was the wisest man I'd ever met. Couldn't ask for a better father. But I lost sight of that saw only to impress him enough to become king. In doing so I ignited a war between the Asgardians and the Frost Giants. He banished me, stripped me of my power. That's why I couldn't lift my hammer."

"...Well, maybe you will one day," Max said. "You never know."

"There's another reason why you're here isn't there?" Thor asked.

"...Two years ago, I made a promise to a friend. I'm gonna keep it now and visit her."

"Her?"

"Her name is Shuri. She's like you, royalty. Princess of the African country of Wakanda."

"Wow, and how did you meet?"

"Our families are good friends, have been since Earth's Second World War, so for almost seventy years. I'd go into even more detail, but we'd be up all night long, and we need our sleep."

"Very well. Perhaps some other time," Thor said and Max got up to get some sleep. "Goodnight, Max."

"Goodnight, Thor," he said and pretty soon, everyone was fast asleep, all of them unaware of the danger that was to come in the morning.

 **Hope you like this. This chapter was mainly to show Max meeting Hawkeye and Thor. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. See ya later.**


	8. The Power of Thor

**This is the second part of the Thor 1 part of the story. There'll be one more and then some made up scenes and then it'll go into the Avengers.**

 **I own nothing. Story idea and oc belongs to sketchywolf, the rest belongs to Marvel.**

Morning came not fast enough and Max quickly got up and changed his clothes, and put his hidden repulsors on as he felt something bad was gonna happen. He then sped over to the kitchen, where he immediately began to make himself a big breakfast, though careful not to bump into anyone.

"Whoa, what the hell?!!," a girl Max hadn't seen before yelled.

"Oh my apologies. I forgot to tell you that young Sir Stark here has certain abilities," Thor explained. "He is very fast."

"Oh. Hi, then. I'm Darcy, Jane's intern. I see you and Thor both have huge appetites."

"Nice to meet you Darcy and good morning to you all," he said beginning to eat then saw Selvig. "Though it doesn't seem like you're have good morning, huh doc?"

"...You could say that," he said, clearly hungover.

"Try having some donuts, it's what my Dad has for a bad hangover. As for my appetite, because of my increased metabolism, I burn calories faster than anyone else. Also... keep my powers to yourselves please."

"Will do," Darcy and Erik said as Thor came over and brought them some breakfast. "Thank you."

"You are welcome."

"How are you doing today, Thor?"

"Better. Thank you, Max," he said.

Erik then got up to get some coffee and Jane began explaining what Thor had told her last night. About Yggdrasil and how it connects all the nine realms together and how it actually is like.

"It's a brilliant theory, Jane. But you get anyone to listen with just that. Not without hard evidence," he said, then there was a knock on the glass door and Max turned to see three men and a woman in full armor and weapons and everything standing there, and they appeared to be very happy to see Thor. The biggest one had long light brown hair and a long beard and carried a large axe on his back. Another wore mainly green armor and a carried a rapier like sword, had short blonde hair and a mustache and goatee. The third man had slightly long black hair, wore black armor and carried a spiked mace. The woman had long black hair in silver armor and carried a shield and double bladed sword.

"Found you!!!," the biggest one yelled and everyone turned to see this, making Erik drop his coffee.

"Looks like the opportunity for hard evidence literally came knockin', Max joked as Thor let them in.

"My friends!!," he yelled hugging them all and Max soon figured out who they were.

"Hey, aren't you Lady Sif and the Warriors Three?"

"That we are, my boy," the biggest one known as Volgstagg answered.

"Oh, my friends, it is so good to see you all again... but you shouldn't have come here."

They all then just looked at him strangely.

"W-What are you talking about?," the warrior known as Fandral asked. "We've come to bring you home."

"...You know I cannot go home," Thor said. "My father is dead because of me. So I must remain in exile."

"Thor," Lady Sif said. "Your father still lives. Who told he was dead?"

"...Loki told me."

"Loki, your brother?," Selvig asked, earning nods.

"Thor, your father is merely in the Odinsleep. Loki is on the throne until he awakes."

"Sounds to me like Loki doesn't want you to return," Max said.

"Yes, it's true," the final member of the Warriors Three, Hogun, answered. "He refuses to end your exile. And forbids anyone to leave Asgard through the Bifrost. We were only got here because Heimdall agreed with us and sent us here."

Then a distant explosion was heard. Max quickly got up and went outside to see what happened, quickly followed by the Asgardians.

"Is that where the Bifrost sent you to?"

"Yes it is. It's Loki. He's sent the Destroyer," Sif concluded and Max quickly called Coulson.

"Phil, are you alright?"

" _Max, get out of town now!! Some sort of robot is on its way there!! It's gonna level the place._ "

"There are five people here who can help," he answered. "Don't worry, we'll stop it."

He quickly hung up and got looks from Sif and the Three.

"We?," Sif asked.

"What? You think because I'm not an adult yet it means I can't fight? I can take care of myself. But you can stop that thing, right?"

"...We can most certainly try," Sif said, and they all began to get into position.

"Jane, Max, we need to get the people here to evacuate the town," Thor said. "That thing will not stop so everyone must leave so they don't get hurt."

They nodded and they, Erik and Darcy began getting the people to leave. They quickly did so as they saw the Destroyer getting closer and was beginning to destroy everything it saw.

"Keep it distracted," Sif said, getting to higher ground.

Volgstagg charged towards Fandral and Hogun and they launched him towards the Destroyer.

"FOR ASGAAAAAARRRRRR-!!!!!," he cried before the Destroyer simply backhanded him into a wrecked car.

It drew closer and was about blast him away when Sif jumped onto it from about and stabbed it through the neck, and it stopped moving. Sif then rolled her eyes at Volgstagg's face when she saved him. But then they noticed the Destroyer coming back to life and began turning its entire body to face Sif and they quickly began to get up when it almost blasted Sif in the face, but a blast of energy hit its face and it blasted a nearby building. Sif turned to that it was Max that had attached it with his repulsors. They were distracted for only a moment and the Destroyer grabbed her by the neck and got off her weapon and threw her at the boy, knocking them both down.

"Sif!! Max!!," Thor yelled and ran over to them and knelt down at the car they were hiding behind. "Sif, take max and get him away from that thing. You've done all you can. You both have."

"I've still got a lot of fight left in me," Max complained.

"No. I will die a warrior's death. Stories will be told of this day," she said and Thor grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Live and tell those stories yourself. Now go," he reasoned and she reluctantly nodded. "Max, help her get out of here."

Reluctantly, he nodded as well and helped her up and walked her over to the others as Thor jumped out of the way as the Destroyer blasted at them.

Fandral and Hogun then helped Volgstagg down off a little ledge on the side of a building. They then saw Thor coming over to them.

"You must return to Asgard. You have to stop Loki."

"What about you?," Fandral asked.

"Don't worry my friends. I have a plan," Thor answered and they all began running from the Destroyer.

Then there was a loud clang, and Max turned to see Thor had dropped Sif's shield and was walking towards the Destroyer.

"What's he doing?," Jane asked, even more concerned than Max was.

"...He's ending this," Max said as Thor drew closer.

"...Brother, whatever I have done to wrong you... whatever I have done to lead you to do this... I am truly sorry," Thor said to the Destroyer, knowing Loki could hear him through it as he walked up to it and it readied itself to blast him away. "But these people are innocent. Taking their lives will gain you nothing. So take mine... and end this."

After a moment, the Destroyer's face changed back to normal, and smacked him away a distance. Immediately, Jane ran over to him and knelt next to him, with Max standing beside her. Thor has received two massive cuts across his chest and there were some on his face as well.

"It's over."

"No, no it's not over," Jane said.

"I mean, you're safe," he explained Max looked to see the Destroyer walking away.

He looked back and saw that Thor was indeed dying.

"It's over," Thor said before seemingly dying.

After a few moments, there was a slight explosion like sound and Max soon saw something at them and he and Erik grabbed Jane. She resisted as she did not want to leave him. They all then saw that it was Mjolnir coming at them and then Thor's hand stretched out and grabbed it, lightning beginning to surrounded him slowly armor began to cover his body and the Destroyer turned back to see he was still alive.

"Oh... my... God!," Jane slowly said, bewildered by what she was seeing as were Max and the others, while Sif and the other Asgardians smiled at the sight.

The Destroyer then continued to try to kill Thor, but he threw his hammer through the small tornado surrounding him and it was thrown away a distance. The hammer instantly returned to Thor's hand as the tornado disappeared, to reveal Thor, fully healed, clothed in silver and dark blue armor and red cape. He then created a massive tornado around the Destroyer, and it kept trying to blast him. But Thor was now easily overpowering it and then flew towards it as it continued blasting him and eventually got close enough for the power it was shooting for to be too much it exploded into oblivion and Thor walked out of the dissipating tornado, unscathed.

"So is this how you normally look?," Jane asked.

"More or less," he answered.

"It's a good look."

"And I thought my Dad putting on one of his Iron Man suits was awesome," Max commented.

"Thank you. We must return to the Bifrost sight. I will have words with my brother."

"Excuse me!!," Coulson yelled as he had just arrived. "You okay, Max?"

"I'm good. Missed all the fun, Phil."

"Okay then. Donald... I don't think you've been completely honest with me."

"Know this, son of Coul. You and I, we fight for the same cause: the protection of this world. From this day forward, count me as you ally. _If_ you return the items you have taken from Jane."

"Stolen!!," she corrected.

"Borrowed," Phil corrected her. "Of course you can have your equipment back. Max has already seen to that. SHIELD would also like to fully sponsor, if that's alright with you."

She thought for a moment with smug look on her face before finally nodding and Thor wrapped his arm around her before flying.

"Hey I have to debrief him!!"

"Just say you did and make up the paperwork," Max said before speeding off, practically racing the god of thunder.

"Heimdall, open the Bifrost," Thor said when he reached the site, where Max was waiting.

"How fast are you?," Jane asked Max, who shrugged as he noticed nothing happened.

"What's going on?"

"He does not answer."

"Then we are stranded," Hogun said as the others arrived.

"Heimdall, if you can hear me, we need you now!!! If you can hear me, we need you now!!! HEIMDALL!!!!"

A moment later, a beam of energy appeared, which Max could only imagine was the Bifrost.

"I'm coming with you," Max said.

"No, Max. This is not your fight."

"When Loki sent the Destroyer to kill you, he made it my fight. Cause he messed with my friend."

Thor looked at him for a moment and saw that he wasn't backing down, and reluctantly nodded before turning to Jane.

"I must go back to Asgard, but I give my word... I will return," he said then kisses her hand tenderly. "Deal?"

Her answer was to press her lips to his passionately.

"...Deal," she said and she watched as him, Max, Sif and the Warriors Three left and were sent to Asgard.

When the light faded, Max found himself surrounded by golden walls and gold light, and he could see outward, a city made almost entirely from gold and stone, a place one could indeed consider to be the home of gods. Maxwell Stark was now in Asgard. Lying unconscious in the center of the room was a man in gold colored armor and his sword was what brought them here as it had turned on the Bifrost.

"Is that Heimdall?" Max asked.

"Yes," Thor said. "Now get him to the healing room. Leave my brother to me and Max."

With that, Thor flew off and Max sped off towards the palace to face off against the god of mischief.

 **Hope you like this. Next chapter will be longer, I promise. Until next time, see ya later. And I also would like to say thank you so much for all of the support, all the favorites and followings. It means a lot to know people like my work. Again, see ya.**


	9. Brave New Worlds

**Final part of Thor 1.**

 **I own nothing. Story idea and oc belongs to sketchywolf, the rest belongs to Marvel.**

As they neared the palace, Max could only take in the sheer size of the place for only a few moments before shaking it off.

' _Stop Loki now, admire Asgard later,_ ' he thought to himself.

Thor then landed as they approached the entrance and he led Max inside.

"Stay by me and wait for any opening to strike," Thor instructed him, earning a nod.

"I swear to you mother... that they will pay for what they've done today," a new voice said as they approached a bedroom.

"Loki!!"

They came in to see a woman run over and hug Thor, which Max could only guess was his mother, Queen Frigga. Then he looked and saw a weasel looking man with long black hair, wearing green and gold colored armor and a helmet with large ram like horns on it and held Gungnir, Odin's spear, in his hands, and he knew that this was Loki. Max then saw the bed which had some sort of energy field around it, and saw a one eyed man inside it.

"Odin...," Max muttered.

"Thor!," Frigga exclaimed. "I knew you'd return to us."

Thor hugged her back for moment before returning his gaze back to Loki.

"Why don't you tell her? How you sent the Destroyer to kill our friends. To _kill me_!!"

"What?"

"Well, it must've been enforcing Father's last command," Loki lied, but Max saw through it.

"The stories on Midgard are true," Max said. "You're quite the talented liar."

"Yes, he always has been," Thor said.

"It's good to have you back. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to destroy Jotunheim."

He then blasted Thor down and moved to strike Max. But he dodged it and sped towards him sand fired his repulsors. It pushed Loki down but then just vanished in a faded green light.

"What the-?!"

"He's also a master of magic," Thor explained. "He's headed for the Bifrost. Mother, we'll explain everything when we return."

"I should hope so since you brought a mortal to Asgard," she said and they both nodded.

As they headed back, Loki placed Gungnir into the Bifrost controller, aimed it at Jotunheim, and left the bridge open. Ice began to build around him and the Bifrost began to devastate Jotunheim.

"How can he destroy an entire realm?," Max asked as they heard back where they started.

"Keeping the Bifrost open allows it to build up and causes the bridge to rip through the entire realm, utterly destroying it and everyone on it."

"We better stop him then."

They soon reached the Bifrost and saw ice was continuing to build up and the temperature was dropping.

"You can't stop it!," Loki said. "The Bifrost will build until rips Jotunheim apart!!"

Thor attempted to break the ice but was once again blasted away and Max attacked as well but was smacked away by Loki.

"Why have done this?," Thor asked.

"To prove to Father that _I_ am the worthy son. When he awakes, I will have saved his life. I will have destroyed that race of monsters and I will be true heir to the throne!!"

"You can't kill an entire race!"

"Why not?," he asked rhetorically. "And what is this newfound love for the Frost Giants. You could've killed them all with your bear hands."

"I've changed."

"Thanks to this child. But so have I," he said scratching at Thor's face. "Now fight me."

He then struck him and Max a distance and they quickly got up. Max then saw Loki was fully focused on Thor and tried to sneak up behind the god of mischief.

"I never wanted the throne!!!," Loki continued. "All I ever wanted was to be your equal."

"I will not fight you, brother!!!," Thor yelled.

"Hmm... fine then. Maybe he'll fight me," he said then turned quickly and blasted Max, knocking him down, and he didn't get up this time. The blast damaged the arc reactor on his chest, rendering his repulsors useless.

"MAX!!!!," Thor yelled and jumped towards Loki, him following suit, but he overpowered him, being much stronger than Loki was.

Loki then pushed him off and got up and tried to stab him with his spear, but Thor rolled out of the way and swept Loki's feet from under him. As they fought, Max slowly got up and saw his reactor had been destroyed.

"Man...," he said and saw Thor swinging his hammer down and Loki blocked it and kicked him away.

With a battle cry, Loki and Thor began exchanging blows. Then they got into a lock and Loki threw him a distance and jumped in the air and attempted to stab him only for Thor to move out of the way. He swings around on the spear and kicks him down again with a laugh. As they fought, Max walked over to the Bifrost controls and began inspecting them, seeing if there was a way to shut it down. With his speed, he could inspect it much faster than usual, but he still could not find anything.

' _Loki was telling the truth,_ ' he thought to himself. ' _Unless..._ '

Thor was now getting annoyed and got into a lock and got up close and threw Loki away a distance. He jumped up in the air to strike at him again as Loki blasted him and the three of them were blown out of the room as the Bifrost began to overload. Thor and Loki were thrown further from it and Loki grasped at the edge of the bridge begging Thor to help him.

"Brother please...," he said and Thor knelt down to help but Max once again saw through Loki's deception.

"Thor, stop, it's an illusion!!!!," he yelled too late as it had vanished and Loki stabbed Thor slightly and created many illusion of himself laughing and were all about to kill Thor.

"ENOUGH!!!!," Thor yelled and summoned up some lightning, blasting Loki away.

Thor got up and walked over to Loki... and placed Mjolnir on his chest, pinning him. He then walked over and helped Max stand up again.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he said and they looked at the Bifrost as Loki attempted to get the hammer off of him. "I looked over it all. Loki wasn't lying, we can't stop it, not the normal way. We can't just turn it off. I do know how we can save Jotunheim though."

"How?"

"...We cut off the connection."

"But that shall strand you here," Thor argued.

"Perhaps... but it will end this madness," Max said.

Thor looked at the Bifrost for a moment, deciding on the best course of action, even though he already knew that Max was right.

"Look at you," Loki said from where he was pinned down at. "The mighty Thor... with all of your strength... and what good does it do you now huh? Ah!! You hear me, _brother_?!! There's nothing you can do!!!"

Thor then reached out for his hammer and it returned to his hand... and began to smash the bridge.

"...W-What're you doing? If you destroy the bridge, you'll never see that woman again!!!!!"

Thor ignored him and continued to smash at the bridge. Max was too focused on what Thor was doing that he didn't see Loki coming up from behind.

"Forgive me, Jane," Thor said and with one last swing of his hammer, he destroyed the bridge in a large explosion of energy, making the building be destroyed as well and the beam was shut down. Loki, Thor and Max were now falling supposedly to their deaths. But Thor grabbed Loki's spear and someone else grabbed his boot and Max's arm. Max looked up to see that it was Odin, now awake. Loki soon saw this and looked back at the wormhole the Bifrost had created.

"I could've done it Father!! I could've done it!!," he yelled. "For you!! For all of us!!"

"...No, Loki," was all Odin said to this and Loki just smirked.

"Loki, no!!," Thor begged and Loki let go of the spear and fell towards to the wormhole, to his death. "NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

"No...," Odin said.

They all stayed in the position they were in for a few moment before Odin pulled them up. No one said anything, as there were really no words to be said.

The next few days were days of mourning over the loss of Loki.

Thor has said little to anyone besides his father and Max. And now he walked over to speak to Odin as Sif and Max walked over to Frigga. Max now wore a dark blue shirt with black pants. He wore gauntlets as well as greaves.

"My Queen, we are both so sorry for your loss," Sif said, and she nodded, looking at her son.

"How is he?," she asked.

"He mourns his brother," Max said. "And... he misses her. Jane."

"The mortal?"

"Yes, your Majesty. If you'll excuse me..."

She nodded and he walked out and sped off towards the bridge.

"Saw you coming," Heimdall said in a deep voice as he reached the edge.

"I don't doubt it. Thought I should come by and introduce myself since you were unconscious when we first met."

"Haha... well, I am Heimdall, gatekeeper of Asgard."

"Maxwell Stark," he said then saw the horizon. "So you see all of this everyday."

"Yes. I see everything in the universe. I see your parents are awaiting your return like you'll come through the door at any moment."

"Hmm... well if I can ever return, I won't be going home for a little while."

"Yes, I caught a glimpse of the events you have been through these past few years. But I don't need my all seeing eyes to know that it has indeed not been easy for you, but... why do you really keep your abilities secret from your family?"

"...I don't know really," Max answered truthfully. "Perhaps it's fate. I want to to tell them and I imhave no ego to stop me from telling them, but... something keeps me from telling them."

"...Your future is uncertain and yet at the same time seems almost planned out, Max, son of Anthony," Heimdall said. "It will indeed be interesting to see what happens with you."

They stood in silence for a time before Thor came and walked up to them.

"So Earth is lost to us?," he asked.

"...No," Heimdall answered. "There is always hope."

"I'm sorry about Loki, Thor. I really am," Max said and he nodded in thanks.

"...Can you see her?"

"Ha... yes."

"How is she?," Thor asked.

"She searches for you," Heimdall answered and Thor smiled at this.

"I promise you, Max. My father and I shall find a way to send you back to Earth."

"I know you will. But one thing I don't understand. Sif explained to me how all of this happened, but how did the Frost Giants get into Asgard exactly?"

"I believe I can answer that. It seems the Bifrost was not the only way in and out of Asgard. Loki mentioned small, hidden gateways to other realms across Asgard. How I could not see them, I know not."

"Maybe your dad knows, Thor," Max said and he nodded in agreement.

They both then walked back to the palace, though not before stopping to get something to eat first.

"The only bad thing about my speed, it's getting so annoying."

"How it could be is beyond me," Thor joked, both getting a good laugh as Max continued to eat. "Come. You can continue eating on the way."

They continued until they found Odin on the Throne of Asgard, thankfully Max had finished and knew he should now along with Thor.

"Rise, my son," Odin said and they did so and he approached the boy. "I do not believe I got your name."

"M-Maxwell Stark, your Majesty," Max said, suddenly feeling quite nervous since he was in the presence of a king of gods.

"I thank you for your assistance, Sir Stark. But I'm afraid that you cannot stay here as you are not Asgardian."

"That's what we came to speak to you about, Father," Thor said. "Heimdall said Loki mentioned something about hidden gateways to the other realms located all over Asgard. Do you know of any? Because Max here, needs to keep a promise to a certain... friend of his."

"Hmm... I believe I know of what friend you speak of as I've had Heimdall keep an eye on you," Odin said and thought for a moment. "...And I may know of one that should get you to where you must go as soon as possible."

Thor and Max looked between each other and they followed Odin back to the Rainbow Bridge.

"Everything here always seems to lead back to the rainbow, huh?," Max joked only to met by silence and he chuckled awkwardly.

"Come closer," Odin said, and Max did so. "I have seen your abilities. They are most impressive, but perhaps this shall help you move even faster."

He placed a hand on his forehead and a flow of energy was channeled into Max and soon became blue lightning running through his body.

"Now, all you need do... is run. Think on where you wish to go, more importantly on who you wish to see. And ask... Shuri, I believe her name is... what the Cheetah Realm is. Good luck, Sir Stark."

With that Odin left and Thor wrapped Max in a bear hug.

"Farewell, Max," he said. "Know that I'll always consider you my little brother."

"...I've always wanted a brother. Goodbye, Thor. I hope we meet again soon," Max said and then immediately began to run fast.

As he ran, everything seemed so slow to him. He followed Odin's instructions and began to think on Earth, and began to think about Shuri, about seeing his best friend again. When he did so, he began to see something run next to him. He looked and saw that it was a cheetah, as blue as the power flowing through him. It then vanished and bright light began to appear in front of Max and he yelled loudly as he struggled to keep up the pace. He began to reach the end of the bridge and Heimdall simply moved to the side and Max ran past him, and then vanished a blue flash of light.

Wakanda

Shuri now sat at the edge of a cliff at the Great Mound overlooking Wakanda. Sitting by her was her older brother, T'Challa.

"I'm beginning to worry, brother," Shuri said. "Max has not responded to any of messages for at least a week now."

"I'm sure he has a good reason," he said. "Perhaps he's trying to get here."

"I wish he were here now."

She slumped her head little and T'Challa wrapped an arm around her to comfort her and then they heard something behind them and they turned around. A bright blue flash blinded them for a moment, and when they could see again, they couldn't believe their eyes.

They saw Max in a strange outfit, panting uncontrollably, nearly hyperventilating.

"...Wish granted, it would seem," T'Challa said.

"Max???," Shuri said then he calmed himself down and looked.

"...Shuri? T'Challa?" he said. "Hey, what do you know? Odin was right."

Then he just collapsed and T'Challa ran over and stopped him from hurting himself.

"Max!!"

"He is just unconscious. Let us get him to the lab. See what's wrong."

They both then began walking into the Great Mound, with T'Challa carrying Max. They carried him... into the vibranium mines. As they walked, Max was moving in and out of consciousness and he saw something unimaginable. He saw a city, he saw the true Wakanda. A technological marvel.

'... _One brave new world to another,_ ' he thought to himself before consciousness left him for good this time.

 **Hope you like this. Until the next chapter, see ya later.**


	10. The Cheetah Realm

**Here's chapter ten of the Avenging Speedster.**

 **I own nothing. Story idea and oc belongs to sketchywolf, the rest belongs to Marvel.**

Max remained unconscious as he was being examined by Shuri, who was already in charge of the science division in Wakanda. Her and T'Challa's parents, King T'Chaka and Queen Ramonda, has also come to see if it was true.

"How did he get past the barrier?," T'Chaka asked.

"We don't know, Baba," T'Challa answered. "He just appeared in a flash of blue light."

"Body functions are normal despite the obvious abnormalities caused by his abilities," she said as a hologram of Max's body hovered over him. "...Wait. His body, it's unable to properly function with so much power coursing through him. It's put him back in a coma. However way he got here must've overworked his powers, he isn't strong enough yet. I don't think I can help him."

"Meaning he could in a coma for good this time," Ramonda concluded.

"Unless...," T'Challa said then gave his father a look.

"...T'Challa, we cannot, you know that."

"What?," Shuri asked.

"We give him the Heart-Shaped Herb. It will heighten his abilities and body functions, perhaps it'll make him strong enough to handle receiving more speed."

"He is not the Black Panther," T'Chaka argued. "He is not even Wakandan."

"Baba... please," Shuri said, walking up to her father. "He is my best friend. We cannot just leave him like this forever. Who knows when he'd wake up again, if ever."

"...Very well. We will have to inform the Elders of this first though."

They nodded and the king and the prince walked out to do so and have everything prepared, the queen leaving later on, leaving the princess alone with Max.

"...You kept your promise," she said then heard Max mutter something. "Max?"

She placed her ear over his face and now she understood what he was saying.

"...The Cheetah Realm? Wonder how you know that name. I never told you that story."

"Shuri?," a new voice said and she looked up to see it was her adoptive brother. He was about Max's height, if not a couple of inches taller, similarly built and about Max's age as well, (Dylan O'Brien). He also wore a necklace with metal wolf teeth on it.

"Oh, Jacob, it's just you."

"What's up with that large grin?"

"Him," she answered and he walked over to see Max. "This is Maxwell Stark."

"This is the boy you never stop talking about?," he asked, and she nodded. "Hmm... what's wrong with him?"

"Not entirely sure. I think he went too fast and now his body can't take the amount of energy flowing through him."

"Well, don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine."

She nodded in thanks and he left her alone again, though not before giving the comatose Max a secret dirty look.

After a week or two, Shuri hardly ever left Max's side. Preparations were now complete for the ritual, and now she and T'Challa knelt next to him as the shaman, Zuri, brought over the herb. It was only T'Chaka, Ramonda and the Elders of Wakanda present, along with Jacob as well.

Max had been stripped his shirt, gauntlets and greaves and lying on his back, arms crossed like an 'X'.

"We call upon our ancestors, we call upon Bast," Zuri began as he poured the herb into the boy's mouth. "Help this child in his hour of need. Though he may not be Wakandan by birth, he is linked to us through the Cheetah Realm. So we ask you... lead him to his purpose. So that he may return to us once more."

The herb began to flow through his system and he began to convulse slightly and his circulatory system began to glow a light electric blue color.

"Praise the ancestors," Zuri said, followed by the others saying and Max's body was then buried.

Max later awoke in darkness and raised himself up from the dirt. He was surrounded by unknown surroundings. He recognized it as somewhere in Africa, but everything a light blue color. He got up and saw he still wore his Asgardian clothing, just without the armor.

He slowly began to walk around when he saw something familiar, the Cheetah he saw on his way back home.

"What is this place?," he asked it and it began to glow and transform into what looked like an older version of himself.

" **You're inside my realm, Max** ," it said.

"...You're the Cheetah Realm."

" **I am. For a single moment, you stepped in here when you left Asgard. It was enough to bring you back, but not even Odin would've known the consequences of you receiving so much power when you weren't ready for it**."

"So... how am I here then?," he asked as they both began walking.

" **You have the Wakandans to thank for that. Or one in particular** ," Cheetah said. " **They have given you something that has enhanced your body, making you stronger**."

"Man... I always seem to have room for improvement."

" **Hahaha... that's good. You're funny, one reason why I like you. One of the many reasons why we're even here. I'm the reason you're still alive**."

Then it dawned on Max.

"...You gave me my powers," he concluded, and Cheetah nodded with a smile. "While I'm grateful for saving me, I need to know. Why did you?"

" **...I've been watching the events of this cast Multiverse for billions of years. I have been around since before it's creation. My job is to pretty much manipulate space and time, keep the wheels of everything we know going. The Cheetah Realm is the title that the Wakandans have given me, and I rather like it. So you may simply call me Cheetah**."

"You didn't answer my question."

" **I know** ," he said. " **When I saw how you were willing to die if it meant your father would live, it really struck me. You may be young, a bit awkward at times, but you have one of the largest hearts I've ever seen. I have seen numerous versions of your future, and I have seen you changing not just this world, but everything. Like what your grandfather said on that film**."

Max simply stared at Cheetah and he smiled and placed his hands on his shoulders.

" **That's why I gave you your speed. You are the only person I've ever given speed to. Use it wisely, but I don't believe that you shall be the only one**."

"What do you mean?," he asked.

" **When a force of good rises, a force of evil shall rise as well, and vice versa. _Always_. Now you must go... I think Shuri misses you. Goodbye for now, Maxwell Stark**."

There was another flash of light and Max quickly awoke covered in dirt and breathing hard.

"Max!! Max!! Breathe... breathe...," T'Challa said, trying to calm him down and Max looked at him and saw Shuri next to him.

"Shuri...," he said, beginning to breathe normally.

Once he'd calmed down, he took a look around and saw he was in a chamber full of small gardens, panther statues around him. He then saw everyone around him, looking at him.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," King T'Chaka said. "Welcome to Wakanda. The real Wakanda. T'Challa, why don't you and your sister take him back to the lab? See if he is alright now."

They nodded and guided him to the transport. He had to stop for a moment to take in what he was seeing.

"...Wow... you live here?," he asked.

"Yup," Shuri answered.

Then a ship appeared and opened up and they went inside it.

"...Guess we both a lot to talk about huh, Shuri?"

"Uh-huh. I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you."

"It's fine, I understand completely. I'd have done the same thing."

"Here," T'Challa said tossing Max a shirt. "I was wondering if you'd even noticed you had no shirt on."

"Hahaha... yeah, I was a little preoccupied absorbing the fact that my best friend's country, which I thought was a third-world country, is actually more advanced than any other nation."

"That's understandable," Shuri said, and then there was a bit of an uncomfortable silence between them. "...Umm... do you have any questions you want ask us?"

"Only about a thousand," he said making them laugh. "For starters, how is it Wakanda has this kind of technology?"

"Vibranium," they both said and Max sits back.

"...Oh... okay that leaves only a fraction of the questions now cause that answers most of them. Okay then, what was that place we were at?"

"The Garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb?," T'Challa answered. "The place where Wakanda's greatest warrior is given the powers of the Black Panther, the protector of Wakanda. Often times, the king is the Black Panther."

"And who is this Black Panther now?"

The two siblings said nothing and Shuri just looked at her older brother.

"Probably should've guessed that," Max said. "Okay I have just one more question, and it's a big one."

"Okay," Shuri said.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you give the Heart-Shaped Herb? I'm not the Black Panther, nor am I Wakandan or even a warrior. I can only imagine you will receive a lot of grief from your people and the people from the garden which I can only imagine is sort of like your council."

"...You should've been able to figure that one out as well, Max," T'Challa answered.

"You're our friend, Max. You are practically family to us. And we couldn't just leave you in a coma forever."

"Well... whatever reason you did it for... thank you."

They nodded and T'Challa walked up to the pilot and Shuri immediately ran over and hugged Max tightly, which he returned, being careful not to hurt her as he could tell that was a lot stronger now.

"I still can't believe you're here," she said then looked up at him. "How did you get that scar by the way?"

"What this?" he asked pointing to his eye and she nodded. "Piece of glass cut me when my dad fought Stane. How long was I out by the way?"

"About a week. We were dealing with that heat you spoke of. Not many people were happy about it but then I mentioned you muttered something about the Cheetah Realm. How do you know about that by the way?"

"I was told only the name by-," he began to say but was stopped by the pilot speaking up.

"We are nearing the Great Mound, Princess," she said.

"Okay. That's General Okoye, by the way," she said. "Leader of the Dora Milaje, the Wakandan Elite."

They soon landed and Max had a good look at the Great Mound. Then he saw the mines within it. Trackways of trains filled with glowing materials.

"Is that all... vibranium on those trains?"

"Yup, there is vibranium everywhere here," Shuri explained. "This whole mountain full of it. We've been mining this place for thousands of years and still haven't even come close to scratching the surface."

"...Not exactly the rarest metal on Earth I guess."

"It's not only a metal. It's a substance. We Wakandans can stitch into our clothes, making them bulletproof, depending on its use really. It powers the city, our technology..."

"And weapons?," Max guessed when he saw the plane like aircraft with guns and stockpiles of glowing spears.

"Don't worry, they are only for defensive purposes, should we ever be discovered," T'Challa explained. "Waging war on other nations is not our way."

"Well I'm glad to hear that. I'm gonna have to guess I've only seen a small fraction of Wakanda, and already I'm blown away. No minor feat, mind you."

"Glad you like it," Shuri said. "But we should probably get back to the lab and have you looked at."

He nodded and they walked into the lab and brought him to the medical table and holograms began to surround him as he was being scanned. T'Challa then waved goodbye and Max returned while shuri didn't even notice he'd left.

"Vital signs are all showing as normal. How do you feel?"

"Good."

"Well, isn't that nice?," a voice said. They turned to see Jacob.

"Oh, Jacob! I'm glad you're here. Come on, Max," she said dragged him upwards to the entrance and met up with Jacob. "Max, this... is Jacob Tell, my adoptive brother. Jacob... Max."

"Nice to meet you," Max said reaching out to shake his hand and Jacob slowly took it.

"Yes... a pleasure to be able to meet you officially. Shuri never shuts up about you."

"Jacob!!," she yells at him but he shrugs it off.

"I didn't know you had another brother, Shuri."

"He and his family were passing over wakanda by plane about six months after you went into a coma. By some unknown cause, the plane crashed near the border and the leader of the Border Tribe, W'Kabi, found him and strangely took him in and he's been a part of my family ever since."

"Strangely?," Max asked.

"Yes, W'Kabi is quite distrustful of outsiders," Jacob explained. "But sadly enough, my parents died in the crash and he lost his in a bombing as a boy, so I suppose he sympathized with me."

"I'm sorry to hear that. About your parents."

He nodded and there was a long silence between them before Shuri got between them and broke it.

"Max, how about I show you more of Wakanda?," she suggested and he nodded. "Wonderful. Jacob, would you like to join us?"

"Thanks but I'm afraid I'm needed elsewhere."

"Oh well. Sucks to be you," she said with smile. "Come on, Max."

"Catch you later, I suppose," Max said.

Jacob nodded and when they were out of sight, a frown grew on his face.

' _Bastard!,_ ' he thought to himself. ' _You won't take her from me. I won't allow it._ '

He then began to walk around the lab and soon sees that Shuri had at some point taken a sample of Max's blood and one vial remained, likely for research. He grinned evilly when he saw this and quickly put it in his pocket.

"What was with that little staredown you had with Jacob?," Shuri asked Max as they walked out.

"Not sure really," he answered. "But he was certainly giving off a creepy vibe, at least to me. I don't think he likes me very much."

"He was sort of like that when he first arrived here, so I'm sure he'll warm up to you. But let's move on."

Max nodded and they came to where he had arrived in Wakanda. He looked up to see that a giant panther statue stood over them.

"Wow... so... you Wakandans are crazy cat people?," he joked and she laughed hard at this and he soon joined in on it.

"Haha... that's one way to put it. Anyway as you know, vibranium is the reason Wakanda is so advanced. But it wasn't always like that, before we built our city, we were five separate tribes, constantly at war with each other."

Max said nothing as they sat down by the cliff, and she continued.

"But then a warrior shaman received a vision from Bast, the panther goddess. She led him to the Heart-Shaped Herb."

"And he became king and the first Black Panther," Max guessed and she nodded.

"Yup. Four tribes agreed to live under his rule but the fifth tribe, the Jabari Tribe, isolated themselves in the mountains. That is when we began to advance ourselves in technology. But as we thrived, the world around us did not. So we vowed to hide in plain sight, disguising ourselves as a third-world country in order to keep vibranium safe."

"And you're still hiding?"

"Yes. Yes, we are."

"Now I understand completely why I was in a coma for a week until today. Shuri..."

She looked at him and he continued.

"I want you to know that should I ever leave Wakanda, that I will never tell a soul of what I've seen here."

She smiled grabbed his hand and leaned in a little closer and he did the same.

"I know you won't," she said. "I've never doubted that and I never will. Just promise me you won't be leaving any time soon."

"I promise," he said and soon they began to close the distance between them.

"So the rumors are true," a voice said behind them and they immediately leaned back and turned around, blushing madly. There stood a woman looking to be about T'Challa's age, she wore mainly green colored clothing and she had a smirk on her face. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Nakia!!!," Shuri yelled frustratingly. "You are not sorry!!"

"Haha... okay maybe I'm not sorry. I could not resist."

Shuri rolled her eyes before turning to Max.

"Max, this is Nakia. T'Challa's girlfriend."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Maxwell Stark," she said shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you as well. So you're the one Shuri doesnt ever stop talking about."

"Nakia!!! I already got that from Jacob!!"

"I think I've embarrassed her enough," she said. "I just wanted to see if it was true that an outsider had been given the Heart-Shaped Herb. Rather interesting that it would be you. If you ever leave Wakanda, you should try to use your gifts to help those in need."

"My thoughts exactly, as a matter of fact. But first, I need to learn how to use my speed better and learn how to fight."

"I'm sure T'Challa would be willing help you with the latter," Nakia suggested and Shuri nodded in agreement. "Well, I'll leave you two alone. Goodbye."

She walked away and then they heard a vibration.

"Oh!," Shuri said and pulled out Max's phone. "I was holding holding onto it for you. It's your parents."

Max quickly took it and answered it.

"Hello?"

" _Max!! Thank God!!_ ," Pepper practically screamed into the phone and Max had to pull the phone away from his ear. " _Where have you been?!!_ "

"Long story. But don't worry, I'm safe. I'm in Wakanda, Shuri is standing right next to me. Though I'm surprised I'm even getting a signal here," he said, grinning at the last part as Shuri snickered because she knew what he was referring to.

" _Well alright then. H-How long do you plan to stay there?_ "

"...At least a year, maybe more. Tell Dad it's not his fault. Granted, he had large part to play in me wanting to leave to straighten out my life, but I forgive him. And I'm gonna stay here for a while because I made a promise to Shuri two years ago and I couldn't keep it. Now, I will."

" _...Okay,_ " she said. " _Well, just promise to come back again. And talk to us often._ "

"Okay. I will."

" _I gotta go, talk to you later... bye. I love you._ "

"Love you too, Mom. Bye," he said then hung up.

"That was sweet of you to say," she said then began pulling him towards the docking bay up top. "Come on there's so much for you to see. We'll fly out to the city."

"Why would we fly... when we can run?," he asked and gave a mischievous grin.

"...Oh no, don't even think about it."

"...I thought about it."

He then picked her up bridal style, making her blush wildly. Max then began to run very very fast towards the city. As he ran, one thought ran through both of their minds.

' _Was she/he about to kiss me?_ ,' they both thought.

Both of them were unaware that Nakia and T'Challa were still there, watching them leave.

"Wow... that was incredible," she said.

"Yes, he certainly is fast," T'Challa said.

"I was talking about him and Shuri."

"...I knew that."

"Did you?," she teased earning an eye roll but she just chuckled. "Hahaha... but in all seriousness, I fully believe that those two are meant for each other."

"We can only hope Jacob can accept that," he said and she nodded in agreement.

Max soon stopped right on the edge of the city and he put Shuri down.

"Really wanted to see if that would work," Max said, then he saw Shuri and he snickered.

"What?," she asked.

"You might want to fix your hair... hahaha."

She put her hands on her hair and could feel it that her hair was sticking straight backwards. She freaked out a little and quickly fixed back to the way it was before and began smacking and Max's arm for laughing.

"Haha... totally worth it. Ow!!," he said before she slugged his arm, then immediately regretting it.

"Ow!! I almost forgot that you took the Heart-Shaped Herb. Ow..."

"Okay, I'm sorry about that. I'll warn you next time."

"Are you kidding?!! That was even more fun than I thought it would be!!," she exclaimed and he looked at her weirdly.

Then they walked in and she began the tour of the city. Max was absolutely astonished by how similar it was to big cities like New York and Chicago. While it was smaller, it was far more advanced and what he liked the most was the design of the buildings, and how they still had a bit of that tribal feel to them.

They received some looks from the people, mainly because there has never been a white boy in their midst before, but it was also because the princess did not go out much.

"As I said before, four tribes agreed to live under the king. The Merchant Tribe, which is the province that we are in now. Then there's the Border Tribe, who protect the perimeter of Wakanda. Then there's the River Tribe, which Nakia is part of, and the Mining Tribe."

"What tribe is the royal family part of?"

"We're our own tribe. The Golden Tribe."

"Cool name," he commented and she smiled proudly. "Out of curiosity, where are the Jabari?"

"Right about there," she said pointing to the mountains. "No one has gone there for centuries. We usually leave them alone and they usually leave us alone."

"Hmm... interesting. Anything else you want to show me?"

"Of course. Where you'll be staying."

Together, they started to head to the Royal Palace. On the way there, Max began to explain what he saw in the Cheetah Realm.

"I awoke to darkness and realized I had been buried. I saw what seemed to look like some part of Africa, though I can only imagine it was Wakanda, I don't really know," he said and Shuri listened carefully. "Then a blue cheetah appeared and turned into what looked like an older version of myself. We had a long talk and he explained to me that he saved me when my dad fought the Iron Monger. Gave me my speed to save my life."

"Incredible. Truly," she said. "Well, your body should be able to withstand the speed now, even if you get any faster. You also have superhuman strength and instincts."

"Hmm... interesting," he said. "Listen, Shuri, I was thinking of something. I have a... project I guess you could say, that you and I can work on."

"What did you have in mind?"

"A suit. Like my dad's but less bulky and more flexible. Armored to help withstand the speed and make it look cool."

"...Count me in and I have a few ideas already."

"Awesome," he said and they soon came up to the palace.

As they went inside, Max looked back at the city and smiled.

' _I think I'm gonna like it here,_ ' he thought to himself.

 **Hope you like this. I did the best I could to describe Wakanda so I hope you understand it. Until the next chapter is up, see ya later.**


	11. Realization and Betrayal

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you like what I do.**

 **I own nothing. Story idea and oc belongs to sketchywolf, the rest belongs to Marvel.**

A year and a half has past since Max arrived in Wakanda, and things have been calm for him. Like it had been suggested to him, Max had asked T'Challa to train him in fighting, train him to fight like the Black Panther.

Max was now nearing the age of fifteen, same as Jacob and Shuri was now almost twelve. Max had quickly gained the trust of the people of Wakanda and they accepted him as one of their own, and the royal family considered him to be part of their family.

When he was not hanging out in the lab with Shuri or training with T'Challa, Max would normally be found talking usually to either T'Chaka, Ramonda or Nakia.

Nakia would often ask about the outside world, and Max would answer truthfully, as she asked about its problems. They both agreed that Wakanda should attempt to open up to the world and share the technology it had, help change the world, but whenever they tried to bring it up with the king, he would not hear any of it.

Max would sometimes speak to Okoye but she would pretty much just pretend that he wasn't there, the same went with her husband, W'Kabi of the Border Tribe.

But most of the time, he would be with Shuri in the lab. He has tried to have a pleasant talk with Jacob, but he would give him a glare and walk away.

Max was now sparing with T'Challa. The prince was quite surprised to see how quickly

"So how's it look now?," Max asked.

"See for yourself," she said.

looking at the prototype. It was a dark blue suit with black spots here and there on it. It was quite similar to Iron Man's as well, but at the same time, completely different, (something like Flash's suit from Justice League). His mask however resembled that of a ninja's and he wore goggles somewhat similar to Iron Man's face plate, but it was more cat themed than anything else. The suit had repulsors and was powered by an arc reactor, also it had retractable claws on the hands like a cat. "Now it just needs a test. How should I do that?"

"Simple. Strike it anywhere," Shuri said.

Max looks between her and the suit, then punches it in the chest, knocking it down as it was on a mannequin.

"A little too hard for my taste, but look..."

He picked it back up and saw the chest was glowing and then the energy seeped into the reactor.

"I've developed prototype nanites. It's what'll give you the boost. The nanites absorb the energy and channel it into the reactor. Since it's made entirely from vibranium, it generates energy far more efficiently. It'll distribute the energy throughout the suit and give a boost, making you go faster. It charges through hits like the one you delivered and by you running as well. The more you run, the larger the boost will be."

"You're a genius, Shuri," he commented and she smirked proudly.

"That says a lot coming from a Stark, so thank you very much."

"Let's put it on."

She nodded and she turned around so he could do so. When she turned back around, he was just putting on the helmet.

"You look amazing!!," she exclaimed. "Now all you need is a name. Arc? No, too short. Ironspeed? No again, that's derivative..."

"I like the name Arc," a new voice said, and they looked to see T'Challa. "Nice suit. Reminds me of mine. So this is what you two have been working on."

"You're not gonna tell Baba are you?"

"Why would I do that? You're free to do what you want in your lab. Besides, I'm glad you'll be putting your new skills to good use."

The two then nodded and continued to look over the suit.

"Arc... I could get used to that," Max said and he ejected his claws.

"Glad you like it. Thankfully there's hardly a way to ruin it. Just keep it clean," Shuri joked, making them all chuckle a little.

After a few more tests, Max decided that it was time to go for a run. Before they did so, they decided to tell the Royal Family and they became quite interested to see what happens. Jacob especially was interested in this test run.

"Okay, ready?"

"Yup," Jacob said and Max readied himself to run and he had the meter ready. "Three... two... one... GO!!!"

Immediately, he zoomed off, a gust of wind blowing behind him. Blue streaks were coming off of him now, like blue lightning. He kept on going, all around the border of Wakanda, running past people and catching them off guard at times. Then he ran past W'Kabi.

"What was that?," one Border Tribesmen asked.

"That was the outsider," W'Kabi said.

As he ran, he began to take a look around him ans saw that everything around him was moving slowly around because of how fast he was moving. Then he took a look at his arms to see streams of kinetic energy flowing through it.

He soon ran back and stopped right next to Shuri.

"How fast was that?," he said, out of breath a little.

"Mach 1.0," Jacob answered. "Only a little faster than lightning."

"You've gotten much faster," T'Chaka stated. "That suit seems to work well."

"So it would seem. Thanks for recor-," Max said but stopped when he saw Jacob had left and had dropped the meter. "Wonder what his problem with me is?"

Shuri shrugged and they all walked back home.

"Shuri?," Nakia said, making her turn to look at her. "Can we speak for a moment?"

She nodded and they stayed behind the rest of the group.

"What's wrong?," Shuri asked.

"I want you to be honest here. Do you like Max?"

"Yes, of course I do. He's my friend."

"That's not what I meant, and you know that. It's only me, Shuri. I promise to not tell anyone."

"...Yes... yes, I do very much," she confessed. "In fact... I think I love him."

"Then you need to wait for the right moment to tell him."

"How will I know?"

"Trust me, you'll know," Nakia answered.

Meanwhile, Jacob walked deep into the vibranium mines in the Great Mound, into a forgotten part of it. He soon came to large chamber and pressed something on his kimoyo bead bracelet and lights began to turn on. It was a makeshift lab... and a large arc reactor in the center.

"Come here and take what rightfully belongs to me...," he said to himself. "Thinking yourself so mighty and powerful because you have incredible speed. Well... if you can have speed... then so can I!!"

He stormed over to the table where he had a microscope and a computer showing the molecular structure of a serum he had developed over the year and a half since Max had arrived in Wakanda.

'Analysis shows high amounts of reactor energy present within the serum,' the computer said. 'But unless an outside source increases the output, any and all effects shall be temporary.'

"Hmm...so I was right to build this reactor. Seems I do need to recreate that night. No matter. Begin overload protocol."

'Warning: Overload could release large amounts of-.'

"The intended effect!! Now do it!!," he yelled as he readied a serum. He hesitated for only a few moments... and quickly stuck it into his arm.

It soon began to burn and his entire body began to feel the same as he began to glow electric blue slightly. He yelled in pain as the computer finished the overload procedure.

'5... 4... 3... 2... 1... overload initiated,' it said as the reactor began to hum louder and louder before suddenly, shot out a blast of energy, which blasted Jacob, who was lying down in pain, into a wall, getting struck by some of the energy and knocked unconscious.

Cheetah Realm

Jacob awoke to find himself in a white button down shirt and black pants. He looked around to see an African landscape around him in a dim, white light.

" **You shouldn't be here** ," a voice behind him said, and he turned to see an older version of Max, but with two cheetahs comprised of pure blue energy on each side of him. " **Give me a reason why I shouldn't have my enforcers deliver a fate worse than death upon you**."

"...Because you know why I'm here," Jacob answered.

There was a long silence as they stood at a standstill. Then after a few moments, the cheetahs vanished and Cheetah walked towards him.

" **I know what you want. So why should I give you something you have not earned nor deserve. I know who you are, Jacob Tell**."

"No matter what my intentions are, you know that there must be one to match Max. His equal, his opposite. You can't always favor good over evil."

" **...Sadly, you are correct** ," Cheetah said. " **I shall give you access to the Cheetah Realm and send you back to your world. But I will _never_ help you get more speed. That will be up to you**."

"...Fair enough," Jacob said and then the blue cheetahs reappeared and grabbed by the arms as they began to ran fast.

Then all of a sudden, they just let go and there was a flash of bright light. Jacob then found himself back in the Great Mound, white electricity flowing through his veins.

He lifted up his hand and for a moment, he began shaking violently. Soon enough, with enough willpower, he got it to stop. But then he got it to shake again and he began to wonder and he punched at the floor under him... and his arm just phased straight through it.

Back with Max and Shuri, they felt a shaking for a moment, like a tremor.

"What was that?," Shuri asked.

"I don't know, but it came from the Great Mound," Max said and quick sped over to it and saw a small cavern near the bottom with smoke coming out of it.

He was about to run towards it, but then a white flash happened. Once this vanished, he sped down to find a small lab with familiar devices within it. For now, he paid no attention to any of this as he then found Jacob lying unconscious on the ground. He picked him up and sped him back up to the lab and then left to grab Shuri.

"Jacob!!," she exclaimed and immediately began to look him over as everyone else arrived as well.

"What happened?," T'Challa asked.

"I'm not sure. I got here to see a small cavern at the bottom of the mine smoking, then a flash of light. I run down to see a small lab... and Jacob unconscious."

"A lab? We'd best go and investigate it."

Max nodded and the two of them went down to the cavern as Nakia stayed to help Shuri. What they found though shocked them to the core.

"What the...? That's... that's a copy of of the arc reactor at Stark Industries," Max said, looking at it as T'Challa noticed something.

"Seems Jacob was working on some sort of serum," T'Challa said looking at the surviving papers scattered all over. Then he picked up one and saw that it was a DNA analysis report. "How in Bast's name did Jacob get a sample of your DNA?"

"Jacob had a sample of my DNA?"

He nodded and Max looked back at the reactor. Then, his eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

"...We have to get back to the lab now!!!," he yelled and quickly sped off back to the lab.

As they had been investigating what had happened, Shuri found something unusual.

"What... how is this possible?," she asked herself.

"What?," Nakia asked, walking over to her. Once her back was turned, Jacob opened his eyes and got off the table he was on.

"His vitals have changed. They're similar to... to Max's."

"Then I suppose it worked," Jacob said and they turned to see him up and then he sped over and struck Nakia over the head, knocking her out and turned to Shuri. "You will be coming with me."

"What have you done, Jacob?"

"What was necessary."

With that, and hearing Max yelling, he grabbed her and sped out of the Great Mound, phasing them both straight through the rock. Max arrived too late and T'Challa wasn't too far behind and they got Nakia up.

"Nakia! What happened?," T'Challa asked. "Where is Shuri?"

"Oh... we have been betrayed," Nakia answered. "Jacob has kidnapped Shuri."

"The tremor we all felt was the arc reactor overloading," Max said. "Along with injecting himself with a serum grafted from my DNA, which has reactor energy as well as power from the Heart-Shaped Herb, he entered the Cheetah Realm... and came back with speed of his own."

"Then we must find them. Now."

He nodded and Max quickly suited up and then T'Challa put in his Black Panther suit.

"Nice suit," Max said, then Nakia's kimoyo bead bracelet went off and a small hologram of Okoye appeared.

" _Sister Nakia, you and Prince T'Challa must come to the Border Province now_ ," she said. " _Jacob holds the princess hostage and threatens to murder her. He is demanding Max to come._ "

This last statement made something in Max snap and he instantly sped off towards the Border Tribe with only one thing going through his head.

' _I won't let her die. I can't..._ ,' he thought to himself.

It didn't take long for him to reach Okoye and W'Kabi.

"Where is he?," he practically growled.

"Over there," W'Kabi answered, pointing with his sword at Jacob at the edge of Wakanda... with a sword in hand and the other phased straight though Shuri's back, threatening to crush her heart.

Max then began to walk over to him when W'Kabi stopped him... and offered him his sword.

"You may need this. And if it comes to it... make it quick."

Max slowly nodded before taking the sword and continuing.

"Ah... so glad you could join us, Mr Stark," Jacob said.

"Shuri, you okay?," Max asked and she slowly nodded. "I see you've discovered an ability I haven't yet."

"Indeed. The Cheetah Realm is quite generous when it wants to be."

"...Why? Why are you doing this?"

"Why?! Haha... I spent so long listening to the princess here only talking about her best friend. Then I hear he's faster than the eye can see. Why am I doing this? It's simple... revenge."

"For what? What did I ever do to you?!"

"You were born!!," he yelled, making his arm move a little, and Shuri gasped at the sensation. "Now... everything that is yours, will now be mine. I will become you. Better than you."

"If it's truly me you want... then let her go," Max said. "She's done nothing wrong."

"No... she has actually. She chose you over me. So now... I will kill you both. Starting with you."

He pulled his arm out and sped past Max, slashing his face in the process. He yelled in pain at this, but got over it and grabbed Shuri and got her to Okoye.

"You sure you're alright?," Max asked one final time.

"Yes. Now go get him," she said and he nodded before his mask appeared on his face and he sped off.

"T'Challa, seems Jacob and I are racing around Wakanda. Ideas on where to lead him?"

" _Lead him to the Great Mound,_ " Black Panther said over coms. " _It's a tight area and you might be able-._ "

Max didn't hear what he said next as Jacob tackled him from the side and began punching him in the face. Max kicked him off and they began to exchange blows, using their speed in the process. Max swung his sword, but Jacob simply phased right through it and phased his hand through the mask and ripped it off. Max quickly grabbed his arm and pulled it away from his face and clawed Jacob's own face, leaving five cuts across the left side of his face. He hollared in pain and fell to his knees for a moment.

"Jacob, please... you're not thinking clearly!!," Max tried to reason, but Jacob just swung his sword and phased through the ground.

"You cannot reason with someone whose mind was always set on killing you," Jacob said, then he deliver a kick to the back from behind, knocking Max down. "And call me... Specter Wolf."

Max slowly got up, already beginning to weaken, though he could tell that Jacob was as well as neither of them had fought before using their speed. It was then that Max knew what to do.

"...If you want me, Jacob... come and get me," he said and sped off with Specter Wolf chasing him, easily catching up.

Arc led him inside the Great Mound and they began to run all over. On the train tracks, across the walls, all the while, Max awaited his chance. Then all of a sudden, using his advanced reflexes and instincts, Black Panther was somehow able to kick Jacob, causing him to lose his footing and Max took advantage of this. He grabbed him and dragged him across Wakanda before throwing him towards a cliff... and stabbed him through the chest with W'Kabi's sword.

"It didn't have to be this way, Jacob," Max said through his partially destroyed mask. "You shouldn't have threatened Shuri."

He pulled the sword out and Jacob just stood there for a moment before falling... off the cliff. Max quickly walked over to the edge, but couldn't find him anywhere.

He then remembered and sped back to Shuri, who was now with her brother and parents. When she saw him though, she quickly left their embrace and ran over to Max and hugged him tightly, which he returned.

"Glory to Bast you're alright," she said, not intending to let go.

"I couldn't save him..."

"Jacob made his choice, Max," T'Chaka said walking over, and hugged him briefly as well. "Thank you for saving my daughter."

"You're welcome," Max said softly.

A few days later, Max had not said much. He and Shuri had repaired the suit, and improved it in some places. But still, he barely spoke to anyone, even Shuri.

T'Challa decided to talk with him and brought him to the cliff where he had killed Jacob at.

"Something is bothering you," the prince stated.

"...Yeah... for one, I've never had to kill before," Max said, making T'Challa nod, understanding that. "But also... when I heard that Jacob was going to kill Shuri, I just... something inside broke. I just couldn't live with myself if anything were to ever happen to her."

"You love her, don't you?"

"I don't know if what I feel is love or not... but no matter what, I'll always protect her. I've also been thinking... that it might be time for me to go back to my parents. I've been gone long enough."

After a few moments, T'Challa nodded.

"Then you best go back to them," he said.

A few hours later, Max was all packed and ready to go. He wore a dark blue long sleeve shirt with black pants and boots, and a backpack with his suit in it.

He was about to leave before the royal family arrived at the border.

"You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?," the queen asked.

"I've never been good with farewells," Max said, making them chuckle slightly. Max then saw Shuri walking over to him, and hugged him tightly.

"Promise me, you'll come back," she said, tearfully. "Please..."

"...I promise. This is my home as well and I'll always come back to you."

She smiled before pecking his cheek, which made him blush wildly. He got over his shock before nodding to T'Challa and the others.

"How are you going to get home, anyway?," Nakia asked.

"I called an old friend to send some people to pick me up in Cairo," Max answered before beginning to walked away.

He turned back to look at the country he'd come to love so much before reluctantly speeding off towards the setting sun.

"Why didn't you tell him?," T'Challa asked, walking up and placing his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"...It wasn't the right time," she simply said.

Somewhere Outside of Wakanda

Jacob floated down the river, unconscious but alive, barely.

Then suddenly, he was pulled from the water. He awoke only for a moment to see a dark skinned man who for some reason reminded him of someone. He was wearing his hair to one side of his head, wore light camo pants, a blue long sleeve shirt and some type of armored vest over it. In his eyes, even in his weakened state, Jacob could see such intense hatred, but not towards him though.

"Hey, kid...," he said. "So you just came out of Wakanda, huh? I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."

"W-Who are you...?," Jacob asked weakly.

"That's a long story. For now... call me Killmonger."

Cairo, Egypt

After about a day or so, Max had finally been able to reach Cairo. Even with his speed, it had taken a while as the country was on the other side of Africa from where he was.

He began to walk around the city, using the skills he'd received from training with T'Challa to observe the place and find who he was looking for.

It didn't take long for his eyes to catch two people who looked oddly familiar following him. He then walked into an empty alleyway and the two people followed, only to find it empty and then Max appeared behind them.

"Nat? Clint?," he said, making them jump ever so slightly.

They then turned to show that is was indeed Natasha and Clint.

"Max...," Nat said, hugging him, which he returned.

"How are ya doing, kid?," Clint said, patting his shoulder.

"I'll admit, I've been better. Should've guessed it'd be you two that Fury would send to get me."

"Probably should've. Come on, we'll talk more on the way back."

They led him to where they left a craft that they called a Quinjet at. They prepped for departure as Clint got into the cockpit as Nat began to tell him what had happened after he left, as he'd never bothered to ask.

"Hmm... so now my uncle has a suit of armor. Good for him. Well, as Coulson likely told you, I met the god of thunder himself after I left."

"And you left with him to go to Asgard, supposedly," Nat said.

Max began to explain what had happened to him the past year and a half, leaving out everything about Wakanda and only saying that he had been staying in the country. Luckily, Natasha didn't pick up on the lies, but she could tell that something was bothering the kid.

"...Something happened in Wakanda, huh?"

"...Yeah," he answered. "A man tried to kill Shuri because he was envious of me. Wanted everything I had. Wanted to be me. So much that he replicated the incident that gave me these powers. But... I killed him. My first kill... Does it ever get any easier?"

"...Depends on the reason you kill for, buddy," Clint said from the cockpit, listening to everything that had been said.

Nat walked over and sat next to Max and wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

"You did what you had to do to save your friend," she said in a caring tone.

He smiles for a moment and nods.

"So... how are my parents?"

"They miss you... a lot. They're also in New York right now, as your father is building a new building called Stark Tower."

"Finally... something to show everyone just how huge of an ego my dad has," he joked and they all laughed at this

They all continued to catch up and tell each other about themselves as they never really had a chance to really talk. Although they only told each other a fraction of the truth, as they all had secrets.

After a while, they arrived at the Triskelion, the SHIELD Headquarters in Washington D.C.

"Welcome back to America," Clint said.

"Thanks, where exactly are we?," Max asked.

"Washington."

"Oh, let me guess... Fury wants to see me?"

"Eventually," Nat answered. "But not today. Today, he thinks you should go home."

' _Like last time_ ,' he thought to himself.

The three walked out of the Quinjet and were met by another familiar face.

"Hello, Max," Coulson said.

"Phil, long time, no see," Max said, shaking his hand.

After saying his goodbyes to Black Widow and Hawkeye, Phil led Max to Lola and they began to fly towards New York. They sat in comfortable silence the whole trip until they landed on the roof of Stark Tower, which was actually quite impressive, architecturally speaking.

"Thanks for the lift again," Max said.

"No problem. I'll be seeing you again in all likelihood," he said before flying off.

Max pulled out his phone and allowed a certain AI access to it again.

'Hello, Max. So good to see you again,' JARVIS said.

"Nice to hear from you too, buddy. Shall we surprise my parents again?"

'Of course, sir.'

He quickly found his way downstairs and soon found himself in the main living area, but his parents were nowhere to be seen at the moment.

'Your parents have walked out of the room for a moment,' JARVIS explained.

He nodded and decided to sit down. He leaned his head back for a moment to contemplate what had happened to him that week. Fought one who could be considered his nemesis and killed him, met up with some old friends he hadn't seen in over a year. More importantly, he realized that he just might be in love with his best friend. His moment of relaxation ended when he received a message from the very subject of his thoughts.

" _Hey, were you able to get home?_ ," Shuri asked.

"Yup. Just got home actually," he answered. "Seems my dad has built a monument to his ego in New York and named it Stark Tower. So that's where I'm at right now."

" _Hahaha... that's funny. Who met up with you in Cairo?_ "

"SHIELD."

" _Ah... well, I'm glad you got home safely. ...We haven't been able to find Jacob's body._ "

This made Max stop for a moment.

" _...Max?,_ " Shuri said after he didn't say anything for a couple of minutes.

"...Then he probably landed in the river. He's long gone by now," he said.

" _I agree... I never got to say it, but... thank you so much for saving my life. You're my hero._ "

"You'll never have to thank me. Cause I'll always save you. No matter what," he responded, then he heard people talking. "Gotta go. My parents are about to come in."

" _Okay. Talk to you later._ "

"Count on it. Bye."

He put his phone away and got up as Tony and Pepper walked in. Both gasped when they saw Max and Pepper ran over and hugged her son tightly.

"MAX!!!," she yelled, still hugging him and Tony joined in. "When did you get back?!!!"

"Just now," he said as they finally let go. "It's good to see you both again."

"It's great to see you again, Max," Tony said, hugging his son again. "You've grown quite a lot. Now you're as tall as me."

"Yup, and your ego hasn't shrunken one bit."

This made Tony grow an annoyed look on his face while Pepper snickered.

"Yeah... anyway, you gotta tell us what you did while you were gone."

"I'd love to but a lot of it is classified SHIELD stuff and then a lot of it is classified personally. All I can say is that something big and very weird happened in New Mexico and I later found myself living in a third world country, living with royalty."

'Sir, there are a few more protocols that need to be established immediately before the Tower is completed,' JARVIS said.

"Okay, I've gotta go deal with that. You two catch and when I get back we'll... catch up," Tony said and he walked out for a moment.

"How is Shuri?," Pepper asked.

"Good. She missed me and I missed her. Mom... I'm not completely sure but..."

"What?"

"...I think I might be in love with her," he said and she squealed slightly and hugged him again.

"Tony, our boy is in love!!!"

"With who?!!," he called back.

"Shuri!!"

"I said I'm not completely sure if I am!!," Max explained. "Mom, something did happen in Wakanda. This... crazy guy, Jacob. He was Shuri and T'Challa's adoptive brother. He tried to kill Shuri."

"What?!," she said. "Is she alright?"

"Thanks to me," he answered, confusing her. "Mom... I killed him."

There was a small silence between them and Tony turned his son around as he had heard him and hugged him gently.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, buddy," he said and Pepper rubbed his back.

"...Yeah... I've had a long and stressful week. Is there any place where I can sleep, for a month?"

This made them chuckle and they showed him to the room they had built for him.

"We'll talk more in the morning. Goodnight," Max said. "It really is good to see you both."

They both nodded and he went into his new room where JARVIS began speaking.

'Max, I have detected much higher energy readings in your system as well as your muscles and body much stronger,' JARVIS said.

"That's a very long story. One I'll tell some other time. Goodnight, JARVIS."

'Goodnight. I hope that this time, you'll be here for a while.'

"Something tells me that you'll get your wish."

Little did anybody know that soon, things would change forever and the fate of each member of the Stark family would be determined.

 **Hope this was worth the wait. Sorry about the wait though. Next part will be the first part of the first Avengers movie. And in case you are wondering, Tony and Pepper will not learn that Max has powers for a good long while. Until the next chapter is up, see ya later.**


	12. Getting Ready

**Avengers 1 part 1**

 **I own nothing. Story idea and oc belongs to sketchywolf, the rest belongs to Marvel.**

Six months have past now and construction of Stark Tower was very nearly complete.

Tony was currently in his Mark VI suit on the bottom of the Atlantic, near the city, placing an energy reactor on one of the transition lines. Once this was done, he shot out of the water and began flying home.

"Okay, good to go on this end," Tony said. "The rest is up to you."

" _You disconnected the transition lines? Are we off the grid?_ ," Pepper asked over coms and her face appearing in his helmet.

"Yup. Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy."

" _Assuming that the arc reactor takes over and actually works?,_ " a now fifteen year old Max said.

"I assume," Tony replied as Stark Tower came into view. "Light it up."

Instantly, the lights on the tower lit up bright.

" _How does it look?_ "

"Like Christmas. But with more... me."

" _We've gotta go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. I can do some more tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next billboards_ -."

"Pepper, you're killing me. Remember? Enjoy the moment."

" _Then get in here and I will_ ," Pepper said smoothly, and a groan of disgust was heard.

" _I'm gonna pretend I don't know what that implies,_ " Max said and his parents chuckled. " _Dad, can you take a picture of the building?_ "

Not a moment later, his phone received a photo of the Tower from the outside. He quickly left to talk to Shuri and send her the photo.

"I present to you... Stark Tower," he said then sent the photo.

" _...Wow. Incredible and the largest testament to anyone's own ego I've ever seen_ ," she joked, making him chuckle a little.

They had been messaging each other more frequently since he left Wakanda, more than they had before. Max now looked more like his father since he woke up two years ago. He was now his father's height and had grown slightly more muscular. He still had the scar over his eye but now he also had the cut across his cheek from his fight with Jacob as well, as it never properly healed, even with Shuri's help. Then he saw on his phone that someone was coming up the elevator. Then he saw two others behind him, one of which Max had not seen in years.

"I gotta go, someone just arrived."

" _Okay. I'll talk to you later_."

He quickly walked back out just as the elevator door opened.

"Security breach," Tony said then looked to Pepper. "That's on you."

"Phil!! Come in!," Pepper said getting up to greet him.

"Phil...?"

"That's his first name," Max said walking up to them.

"Uh, actually... his first name is Agent."

"Good to see you again, Phil," Max said shaking his hand and ignoring what his father said.

"You as well, Max," Coulson said then turned the agents behind him. "I believe you all know each other."

"We do indeed," Max said shaking both of their hands. "Terry and Alice Scott."

Terry and Alice were both about Max's height, both well built with blue eyes and black hair, but both were obviously older than he was. Terry was wearing what must be SHIELD assault team armor, just modified and Alice was wearing a similar outfit but with no padding, (they look like Taron Egerton and Daisy Ridley).

"Nice to see you again, Max," Alice said, hugging him as well.

"Yeah, it is, kid," Terry said

"Uh... how do you know these two?," Tony asked curiously.

"I met these two at MIT, both very intelligent people. So now you're with SHIELD, huh? Moving up in the world."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Well, come on in, all of you. We're celebrating," Pepper said.

"Which is why they can't stay," Tony said, trying to get rid of them.

"We need you to look over this," Phil said, holding a file up to Tony. "As soon as possible. And we'll need Max to come with us. Agents Lion, Lioness, bring him up to speed."

They nodded and they led him out of the room as Tony began going on about disliking things being handed to him, causing Alice to look to Max for an explanation.

"Trauma and trust issues," he said. "Now what's going on?"

"You're familiar with Captain America and HYDRA, right?," Terry asked.

"Yes. My grandfather made Steve Rogers's shield. What about it?"

"There was a small glowing cube found by your grandfather when he was looking for Rogers. The Tesseract. It's been stolen by this guy calling himself Loki. Agent Barton and Eric Selvig have both been compromised."

This caused Max's eyes to widen greatly and he quickly nodded.

"...When do we leave?," he asked.

"You will leave, we'll stay here and help your father in his research on the situation," Alice explained.

"Okay, just don't go into my room. I value my privacy."

She rolled her eyes but nodded all the same.

"So... since we have time as my mom will start up a conversation with Coulson, how did you end up working at SHIELD?"

"We were recruited by the Black Widow a year ago," Terry said. "Said we both showed promise. Also gave us the names Lion and Lioness cause we're a team and family."

"Hmm... yeah, that sounds like Nat," Max said and then Coulson came over, gesturing that it was time to go. "Time to go. It was good to see you both again."

They nodded and he walked towards Coulson and soon enough, they were driving towards the outside of the city, where a Quinjet was awaiting them.

"Be prepared, you're about to meet a legend," Coulson said, sounding like a child on Christmas.

"...Okay... well I've met a mythological man, so I doubt I'd be surprised."

The Quinjet opened to reveal a man, about six feet tall, well built and short brown hair. Max immediately knew who it was from old World War II films he'd studied during his free time.

"...Captain Steve Rogers. ...Wow!! It's an honor to meet you."

"Do I know you from somewhere?," he asked, as he walked on and they began flying.

"N-No, but you knew my grandfather, Howard Stark," he said, sitting across from him and reaching his hand out. "Maxwell Stark."

He smiled and shook Max's hand.

"Good to meet you. If you don't mind me saying, but based on your face, you've been through hell recently."

"Yeah... it's a been a rough four years."

He began to tell his story, trying to explain as best he could. When he was done, Steve said nothing right away, but looked at him.

"Wow... that is rough. Almost as rough as my fight against HYDRA was."

"Yeah... I know I've already said it, but it truly is an honor. You were my idol growing up."

"Oh yeah?," he asked and the boy nodded. "Well, I'm glad I could inspire you."

"Yeah. Because of you, I was actually able to meet my best friend, Princess Shuri."

"Princess?"

"King Azzuri of Wakanda's granddaughter," he explained and Steve nodded and went back to the tablet in his hand. "What's that anyway?"

"Doctor Bruce Banner."

"What?"

He quickly got up and sat next to his hero and saw a footage of a great, big green monster.

"...Whoa," he said.

"You don't remember hearing about this?," he asked.

"Max was in a coma at that time," Coulson explained, walking over.

"So this Banner was trying to create the serum that made me?"

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation was the key to Erskine's formula."

"Didn't exactly go his way," Steve concluded.

"Not so much. But when he's not that thing, he's like Stephen Hawking or something."

Steve just looked at him strangely as he didn't know who Stephen Hawking was.

"He's like uh... a smart person," Phil explained. "I've gotta say, it's a real honor to to meet you. Officially. I did see you while you slept. I mean... when you were frozen, I'm not a creep. I mean, I must say, it's a real honor to have you aboard."

"You already said that, Phil," Max said, looking at the tablet Steve had handed to him as he stood up, not even looking up to say it.

"Well, I just hope that I'm the right guy for the job."

"Oh, you are, don't worry about that. We've have done some adjustments to the uniform, I myself had some input in it."

"The uniform? Are the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?," Steve asked.

"You know, with everything going on, with everything that's coming to light, people might just need a little old fashioned," Phil said as they drew closer to an interestingly designed aircraft character.

"So, how are you alive, by the way?," Max asked.

"We found him in the Artic ice, frozen solid."

"Hmm... well, if you ever meet him, don't expect a warm welcome from my dad, Tony."

"Why not?," Steve asked

"He told me once that my grandpa wouldn't ever shut up about you."

He simply nodded at this as they landed and as they got out, they were greeted by Natasha.

"Agent Romanoff," Phil said and turned to Steve. "Captain Rogers."

"Ma'am."

"Hi. You're needed on the bridge, sir," Nat said and received a brief hug from Max, which she returned. "Been a little bit huh?"

"We need to stop meeting like this," Max joked and they both laughed at this as they walked with Steve.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Has he asked you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?," both Steve and Max said.

"They're vintage. He's very proud of them."

Then they began walking over to a rather timid looking man who Steve and Max quickly recognized.

"Dr. Banner," Steve said and he turned to see them coming over to him.

"Oh, yeah. Hi," Bruce Banner said, shaking Steve's hand then Max's. "Wait, you look familiar. Have we met?"

"No, but I've been on tv before. Maxwell Stark, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ohh... that's right. Nice to meet you both. They said you'd be here, Captain."

"Well, word is that you can locate the cube."

"Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about," Steve answered.

"...Must be strange for you. All of this," Bruce said, gesturing everything around them.

"You know... it's actually kind of familiar."

Then some sirens went off and Nat walked up to the boys.

"We best get inside soon. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe," she said as they began to hear machines turn on.

"Is this a submarine?"

"Really? They want me in a pressurized metal container?"

"No... I think it's something else entirely," Max said, looking down.

Steve and Banner did as well and saw a massive turbine beginning to emerge from the water as the carrier began to go up into the air.

"Oh no!! This is much worse!!!," Banner yelled as they went inside.

"Race you to the bridge!!," Max yelled and then sped way ahead of them, leaving Banner in shock, Steve already knowing as he had been told on the way to the carrier. Nat just chuckled at his reaction before speaking again.

"It's a long story. He'll tell you about it later. Just don't mention anything about it to his father when you meet him. Let's get to the bridge."

They then walked to the control room where Fury was guiding the launch.

"All engines operating," Maria Hill, second in command of SHIELD, announced to Fury. "SHIELD emergency protocol 193.6 in effect, were at level."

"Good," Nick Fury said. "Let's vanish."

"Engaging particle reflection panels."

As she said this, the ship began to vanish from the mirrors on the bottom of the craft, like a camouflage system.

The three of them turned to see Max sitting at the table and Fury walked over to them.

"Gentlemen, welcome," he said and Steve handed him a ten dollar bill.

"Hey, Nat?," Max said as he walked over to her. "Is it true? About Clint?"

"...Yeah. Loki is mind controlling him or something."

"Damn."

He then walks over to Fury.

"It's been a long time huh?"

"Two years. You've changed a lot," Nick said, shaking Max's hand. "New additions to the collection huh?"

"That's one way of seeing it."

They laugh a little as he walked over to Banner and shook his hand. Max then saw Hill glaring at him before finally nodding, which he returned.

"Maria Hill," Natasha said. "Second in command. She's just distrustful of new people."

"Doctor, thank you for coming."

"...Thanks for asking nicely," Bruce said timidly. "So, uh... how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear."

"Where are you with that?"

Nick Fury turns to Agent Coulson to explain, while Natasha and Max eye an image of Clint Barton on a computer screen.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops," Phil said. "If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time," Nat said.

"She's right," Max said. "What about eyes and ears on the ground? Intel coming from the dead zones?"

"We have agents on the lookout in all various locations all over the world," Maria answered. "The adults know what they're doing."

"Oh yeah? Well, I'll do my best to explain what we are doing and to you later on then," Max countered, earning a snicker from Nat and Steve.

"Enough," Fury ordered and looked back at Banner. "Continue, please."

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?"

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays," Bruce said to the agents at the computers. "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please."

Natasha nods and walks off, leading Banner down the hall.

"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys."

"I'll go with them. See if I can help at all," Max said, following them.

They reached the lab and the two geniuses got to work right away. Banner then looked to Max once Nat was gone.

"You seem quite close to SHIELD," he stated.

"Yup. SHIELD offered to help me when I was in a coma for two years. Then they helped my dad when he got sick from palladium poisoning. Nat was sent to keep an eye on him and we became friends fast. She's been like a big sister to me ever since."

"And your... gifts?"

"Result of the exposure to arc reactor energy. Been calling myself Arc, if you're interested."

"That's actually a pretty cool name. Does your father know?"

"Neither he nor my mother or my uncle will ever find out about it," Max said. "I don't want them to know. Don't really know why, just feels like something I need to keep secret from them."

"It'll eventually be revealed, you know?," he said.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there," Max answered then his phone went off. "I gotta take this."

Bruce nodded and Max walked off and began talking with Shuri. First though, he messed around with his phone and it said that the phone was secure and security wouldn't pick up what he was typing.

" _Hey, how's your day going?_ ," she asked.

"Working with SHIELD again," he said. "Remember that Loki guy I told you about?"

" _Yes._ "

"Well, he's alive and he took something called the Tesseract. It is considered the Jewel of Odin's Treasure Room. A door to the other end of space. He also is mind controlling a couple of my friends, including one who's like a brother to me."

" _Wow... you've got your hands full_ ," Shuri said. " _Do you need any help?_ "

"I'm good right now. Guess what? Captain America is a alive and he's here helping us. I got to talk to him and everything. Doctor Bruce Banner is here as well."

" _WHAT?!!! Lucky!! You_ will _tell me all about it when you're done!!_ "

"I promise. I gotta go now, bye," he said

" _Bye_ ," she said and Max walked back into the lab.

"Who was that?," Bruce asked curiously.

"My best friend, Shuri."

"Sounds like an African name."

"Well, she's an African princess, so it would make sense."

"Wait, what?!! Princess?!"

"Princess of a third world country in Africa," Max explained. "Wakanda. Let's get back to work."

Banner nodded and they quickly got back to work.

 **Hope you liked this. I'll try to have the next one up as soon as possible. Until then, see ya later.**


	13. Coming Together

**Avengers 1 part 2**

 **I own only my original characters, nothing else.**

Several hours passed and Max was now sitting at the table in the control room with Natasha.

"If it's not too much trouble," Phil said, asking Steve to sign his trading cards.

"Oh no, it's... fine," Steve said awkwardly.

"Hey, Nat," Max said and gestured towards the two and she grinned in amusement like he was. "Still weird just how much of a geek he is."

"Oh, this is nothing," she commented and they snickered a little as another agent, Jasper Sitwell, got a hit on Loki.

"We got a hit!!," he said and Max sped over to him and saw the footage of Loki. "69% match. Wait... cross-match, 79%."

"That's him alright. I'd recognize him anywhere."

"Location?," Coulson asked.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Königstraße. He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain," Fury said, getting Steve's attention. "You're up."

He nodded and headed towards the armory and then the landing bay.

"This is something I gotta see," Max said and sped towards the landing bay before anyone could say anything.

He ran over next to Nat, who stood next to a quinjet. Then he saw a man in a red, white and blue suit, carrying a shield.

"That's awesome."

"Thanks," Steve said. "You coming with us?"

"Yup. There might be a chance that Thor will show up. He's like a brother, so he'll listen to me should things escalate."

They nodded and flew off of the helicarrier.

Germany

By the time they arrived, Loki had caused a mass panic and he was now in a green and golden outfit with a new scepter with a mysterious blue gem on it.

"Kneel before me," Loki ordered the crowd of frightened people as he created illusions of himself to surround them. "I said, KNEEL!"

Scared out of their minds, they did as he said and began to walk around them with a smirk on his face.

"Is not this simpler?," he asked, rhetorically. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

Then an old man arose in defiance of the would be king.

"Not to men like you," he said.

"Ha... there are no men like me."

"There are always men like you."

Loki became annoyed and pointed his scepter at him.

"Look to your elder people. Let him be an example."

He fired but then a shield deflected it back at him, saving the old man. The blast pushed him away and brought him to his knees. The shield lowered and revealed Captain America.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else... we ended up disagreeing," he said to Loki.

"The soldier," Loki said chuckling. "...The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time."

The quinjet flew into view and it readied it's guns.

" _Loki. You've nowhere to run. Drop the weapon and get down on your knees_ ," Black Widow said but he replied by shooting at them.

Steve rolled over to him and punched him in the face, barely fazing him but it got his attention and they began to throw punches at each other.

"Jeez, he's all over the place," Nat said from the cockpit and Max watched from behind her.

Loki then smacked him a distance and pinned him down on his knees.

"Kneel," he ordered but Captain America grabbed the scepter and pushed off, getting up.

"Not today!!," he exclaimed and kicked in the face.

" _Hey, Agent Romanoff. You miss me?_ ," a familiar voice said over the coms and Loki was then blasted to the ground as Iron Man arrived and readied every weapon he had. "Make a move, reindeer games."

Loki then saw that he was outmatched and slowly his armor faded and he raised his hands up in surrender and Tony put his weapons away.

"Good move."

"...Mr. Stark," Steve said, walking up to him.

"Captain."

They quickly got him cuffed and got him into the quinjet. Loki then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Max standing in front of him and he grinned evilly.

"I see that you remember me," Max said and the god of mischief said nothing to this as he sat down and the quinjet flew off. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, buddy. How do you know him exactly?"

"Long story that I'll tell you about later."

Some time passed and Fury contacted them.

" _Has he said anything?_ ," he asked.

"Not a word," Nat answered.

" _Just get him here. We're running out of time._ "

"...You know, Clint was probably there," Max said after a moment.

"...Yeah, he probably was."

"You okay?"

"...Not really. But thanks for asking."

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and walked back to Steve and his dad.

"I don't like this," Steve said.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?," Tony asked.

"I don't remember it being _that_ easy. This guy packs a wallop."

"Trust me, I know," Max agreed.

"Well, you're pretty spry, Cap. For an older fellow. What's your thing, pilates?"

"...What?"

"It's similar to calisthenics."

"Yeah, you might've missed some things, you know? Doing time as a Capsicle."

"...Fury didn't tell me he was bringing you or your son in," Steve stated.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things that Fury doesn't tell you," Iron Man said then thunder and lightning came out of nowhere.

"What's going on out there?," Max said and returned to Natasha. "What's wrong?"

"Not sure," she said and Steve then saw the troubled look on Loki's face.

"What's wrong? Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," he answered and Captain America and Iron Man just looked at each other.

There was then a thud from the roof and Tony opened the door to get out and see what was going on. Then a man with long blonde hair and in viking like armor and had a hammer in hand. He knocked Tony away and grabbed Loki before flying.

"Now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?!!," Max and Nat yelled.

"Isn't that guy a friendly?!," Steve asked over the noise of the door being open.

"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost," Iron Man said as he was about to fly out.

"Wait, Dad, stop!!," Max yelled, coming into view. "It's Thor!! He won't do anything!! We need to make a plan, not attack!!"

"I have a plan: Attack."

Saying nothing else, Iron Man flew out to engage Thor and almost immediately, Captain America began to get a parachute on.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap," Natasha suggested.

"I don't see how I can."

"These guys come from legends. They're basically gods!!"

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that," Captain America said as he jumped out of the quinjet.

Thor then landed on a cliff, making Loki crash into it, to which he just chuckled despite being in pain.

"Where is the Tesseract?," Thor demanded, clearly pissed off.

"Oh, I've missed you too," Loki said, ignoring the question.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!"

"Really? You should thank me!! With the Bifrost gone, how much dark magic did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth?"

He slowly got up as Thor dropped his hammer and stepped closer to him.

"I thought you dead," he said, and Loki lost his smirk.

"Did you mourn?"

"...We all did. Our father-."

" _Your_ father," Loki corrected and began to walk away from him a little. "He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together!! Do you remember none of that?!!"

"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you casting me into an abyss. I was and should be king!!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights? No... the Earth is under my protection."

"Hahaha... and you are doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other while you idly fret. I mean to rule them. Why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them?," Thor asked and Loki just looked at him strangely.

"...Well, yes," he answered as if the answer was obvious.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. The throne would suit you ill."

Loki just pushed him out of the way and walked over to the edge of the cliff.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about!! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it-."

"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?!"

"I am a king!!!," Loki argued and Thor grabbed hold of him.

"Not here!!!," he yelled. "You give up the Tesseract!! You give up this poisonous dream!! ...You come home."

"...I don't have it."

Thor let's go of him and summons Mjolnir and holds it ready.

"You need the Cube to bring me home but I've sent it off I know not where."

"You listen well brother-," Thor began to say but then Iron Man grabbed him and flew off with him, leaving Loki just standing there.

"...I'm listening," he joked.

Thor is thrown into some trees at the ground level and Tony lands and lifts up his faceplate.

"Do not touch me again."

"Then don't take my stuff," Tony countered.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Uh... Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you wear-th her drapes?"

"This is beyond you, Sir Stark," Thor said and Tony's eyes widened a little.

"Wait, how do you know my name?"

"I know your son, Max. He spoke of you. However, that changes nothing. Loki will be coming with me and face Asgardian justice."

"He gives up the Cube, he's all yours. Until then-," Tony said and the faceplate drops. "-Stay out of the way. Tourist."

Thor then gets annoyed and throws Mjolnir, hitting Iron Man square in the chest and sent him flying before landing on his back. This obviously annoyed Tony to no end.

"...Okay!"

Loki smirks from the cliff top he was left at as Thor summons Mjolnir back and then swings it in circles. Iron Man gets back up to his feet and fires a repulsor blast at Thor. He then flew at him, and kicked him through a tree.

In retaliation, Thor got up and summoned a bolt of lightning as Loki watches in the distance as Max does from the quinjet as Thor sent the bolt at Iron Man. It did not electrocute him as the god of thunder thought it would, instead it almost seemed like the reactor was absorbing the energy.

'Power at four hundred percent capacity,' JARVIS said in the suit.

"...How bout that?," Iron Man said and fired a massive repulsor blast at him.

They then continued to fight in the air, smashing through the trees around them and even scraping against a cliffside.

The two heroes then crashed back to the ground and toppled even more trees in the process. They quickly got back up and Thor throws a left hook at Iron Man, who attempts to throw a punch back. Thor grabbed his arm however and then the other as he tried to throw a left hook of his own. Thor began to crush Tony's right gauntlet, making him groan in pain and tried to think fast. He lifted his hand up and blasted Thor in the face and he let go of him. The blast did nothing to Thor and so he headbutted him. Thor simply retutnedbthe gesture and knocked Iron Man away a distance, but he simply launches himself back at him into a broken tree.

Thor quickly gets up as they get into a fist fight, and then he puts Tony on his back and summons his hammer. Tony quickly flies off, which makes the hammer-wielding man fall. As he gets back up, Iron Man swooped in and knocked him back down. They are about to fight again until Captain America's shield hits them both in the chest to get their attention.

"HEY!!!," he yelled from atop of a destroyed tree and he caught his shield. "That's enough!!"

He jumps down of the tree and approaches Thor and Iron Man.

"Now I don't know what you plan on doing here-."

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!!," Thor exclaimed.

"Then prove it. Put that hammer down."

"Uh, yeah! No! Bad call, he loves his hammer-," Iron Man tries to say but Thor swung his hammer back, sending Iron Man behind him.

"You want me to put hammer down?!!!"

Thor leaps, swinging Mjolnir, Cap raises the shield over his head. When the two connect, a massive energy explosion occurred and all three were thrown backwards.

"I think they need a time out," Max said to Nat on the quinjet. "Can you get me down there? I'll talk to Thor."

"Sure," she said and began to fly the craft down to the three heroes.

As this happened, the three men slowly got themselves back up and faced each other.

"...Are we done here?," Steve asked and Thor looked around.

"Yeah, what's next? You all gonna make up and braid each other's hair?," a voice joked and Thor turned to see his old friend.

"Max!! My brother!!," he exclaimed and hugged him tightly.

"Good to see you again, Thor. We'll talk later as we have to deal with this right now. How about if you help us find the Tesseract, make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands, we'll give it and Loki to you? Deal?"

"Of course. What say we just get out here then?"

They all nodded at this and they grabbed Loki and got on the quinjet.

Helicarrier

It was dead silent on the carrier as Loki was escorted to his cell. Everyone just watched as he passed by or on security footage. Soon enough, he's placed into a cylindrical shaped cell and Fury appeared on the platform surrounding it.

" _In case it's unclear, you try to escape- you so much as scratch that_ _glass-_ ," he said over the footage as the others watch from the conference room and he pushed a button and the floor beneath the cell drops away and the wind begins to scream. " _Thirty thousand feet, straight down, in a steel trap!! You get how that works?!!_ "

He presses another and it closes and the wind stops screaming as Fury gestures towards the cell then the console.

" _Ant... boot._ "

" _Hahahaha... it's an impressive cage_ ," Loki stated. " _Not built,_ _I think, for me_."

" _Built for something a lot stronger_ _than you_."

" _Oh I've heard_ ," he said and looks at the camera as everyone watches him. " _A_ mindless beast. Makes play _he's still a man... How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?_ "

" _How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did._ "

" _Ooh... it burns you doesn't it? To have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power- unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share? And then to be reminded what real power is._ "

This just made Fury smirk and he began to leave.

" _Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something._ "

With that, the video feed where Steve sat, still in his suit but no cowl, went off.

"He really grows on you doesn't he?," Bruce commented and Max just shrugs at this.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Cap said. "So Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri?," he answered. "They're not of Asgard nor any world known. He means to lead the against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army, from outer space?"

"So, he's building another portal," Max concluded. "That's got to be why he needs Selvig?"

"Selvig?"

"He's an astrophysicist," Bruce explained.

"He's a friend."

"Loki has them under some kind of spell- along with one of ours," Natasha said.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can small crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor warned. "Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Nat pointed out.

"He's adopted."

"Anyway, it must be about the mechanics that they pulled off that heist," Max said, changing the subject. "Iridium. What do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony said as he walked in with Coulson and he turned back and said something quietly to him. "I'm saying, take a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive."

Phil just nods and walks away from him as Tony looked back at the others.

"Means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD," he said and looked to Thor. "No hard feelings, Point Break, you got a mean swing."

Thor just looked at him weirdly and then to Max for an explanation, only to receive a shrug.

Tony walked over to the control console and began to fiddle with the controls and annoy the agents at work.

"Also, means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants. Ah, raise the mizzen mast, ship the topsails."

The personnel just look at him strangely and then he pointed to his right.

"That man is playing Galaga!! Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did," he exclaimed and then covered his right eye. "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns," she answered the same way she had spoken to Max.

"Sounds exhausting," he responds and then placed something on the underside of a desk. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton ought get his hands on pretty easily."

"Only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density," Max finished. "Something to kick start the Cube."

"When did you two become experts in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers- am I the only one who did the reading?"

"I studied it at Harvard," Max said.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?," Steve asked, getting back on topic.

"He'd have to heat the Cube to a hundred and twenty million kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Banner stated.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the Quantum Tunneling effect," Tony said.

"Then he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor on the planet," Max said.

"Finally. People who speak English."

"Is that what just happened?," Steve asked as Tony and Bruce shook hands.

"It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electronic collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you... lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"...Thanks," Bruce said awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot he could do that," Max admitted.

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube," Fury said, coming in. "I was hoping you might join him."

"I'd start with that stick of his. It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys? I do not understand-," Thor said before being interrupted.

"I do!," Steve exclaimed and the entire room goes instantly silent, staring at Steve. "I...I understood that reference."

"Good for you," Max said as Tony turned to Bruce

"Shall we play, Doctor?," he asked.

"This way, sir."

They walked out and Max turned to Fury.

"We both know that he'll try to learn all of SHIELD's secrets, so I have to ask."

"All records of your abilities have been put onto paper and the digital copies have been deleted and all traces are gone," Fury said. "Not even your father's AI could put it together."

"Good."

"Why don't you want him to know?," Steve asked.

"That's a question I've been asking myself for two years. I think it might be because... I'm scared."

"Scared?," Natasha said.

"That they'll try to protect me... by attempting to cure me. Take my speed away. Or the very worst, stop me from using them."

"I have every faith that your parents would never do that Max," Thor said.

"So do I, but I just can't take that risk," he explained. "You see... I love my powers. I love everything about them. When I use them, when I'm running... I feel like I'm the person I was always meant to be. And... I-I don't think I could go back to the life I had before I received these gifts."

"...That's perfectly understandable. And an answer I was waiting for as well," Fury said.

There was a small silence and then Max later on found himself in the training area, firing a handgun.

"Who the hell gave you a gun?!!," Hill demanded as she walked by and saw what he was doing.

"I found it," he said. "Honestly, somebody just left it somewhere."

"Well, I don't trust you with one. Give it to me."

"You do realize I am fifteen and I know how to use a gun, right?"

"I don't care."

"What's your problem with me, exactly?," he asked.

"I think you're the same as your father: a security risk," she answered. "You have powers never seen before and you wish to keep them to yourself."

"Those aren't good reasons. But they are reasons. My problem with you though is simpler... I just don't like you. Now that that's out of the way, I'm not giving you the gun."

"Why?"

"Because I need a way to defend myself should anything happen as I cannot risk using my powers around my father," he answered.

"...Fine," she said. "I'll make you a deal then. Get bullseye on each of those targets and then I'll even get you a holster."

Max nodded and went to the center of the range and reloaded his gun. He aimed carefully, but quickly and six shots at each target, hitting them dead center. He then just smirked at Hill.

"Barton taught me how to use a gun in case he wasn't there to protect me two years ago. Eidetic memory helps sometimes."

Though she would never admit it, Hill was actually impressed, and she walked over to a storage area and tossed him a holster that attaches to the hip, then she left and didn't look back.

Then suddenly, Max's phone went off and he looked to see Shuri messaging him.

" _Anything interesting happen today?_ ," she asked.

"Yeah, Thor is back," he answered.

" _Really? Wow._ "

"Yeah. Listen, I don't think I'll be able to talk to you much in the next couple days due to all of this happening. Hope you don't mind."

" _Well... just tell me everything that happens when you can. I have to go anyway. See ya._ "

"See ya."

He puts his phone away and he looks to see Thor there.

"It's been awhile huh?," he asked and Thor nodded.

"Indeed it has been," Thor said. "My father was quite apologetic for giving you so much power when you weren't ready for it. He didn't realize until he had heard you were in a coma."

"Well, when you see him again, tell him no worries. I'm fine now, and it's helped me get the means to be able to receive more speed now. Listen, Thor... there was something I wanted to talk about. Two things actually."

"Yes?"

"The first is about Shuri. You remember her right?"

"Of course, you always spoke highly of her."

"Well, during my time in Wakanda, near the end, I realized something... that I'm in love with her."

"Hahahaha!!!! Congratulations on that then, my brother!!!," Thor exclaimed and patted him hard on the shoulder.

"Thanks. Now the trick is to tell her, but I don't know how exactly. I'd ask my dad, but... he used to be a bit of a womanizer to say the least, so he's not much help there."

"Well, the best way is to not plan it out. Wait for the right time to tell her, and perhaps wait a few years as you're both very young. I believe your family and hers would probably feel more comfortable with that. But do not be afraid to tell her, and tell her whenever you think you should. I know you'll do the right thing. Now, what was the other thing?"

"Well... in Wakanda, Shuri and her older brother, Prince T'Challa, they had an adoptive brother, Jacob Tell," he said and began to tell the story of how Jacob had copied his powers and how he kidnapped Shuri. "We raced all over Wakanda and eventually we came to a cliff and... I put a sword through his chest."

Thor then stopped and looked his friend in the eyes.

"Your first kill?," he asked and Max nodded. "That is never easy. But it was to save another and possibly countless more, remember that."

"...Thanks. That helps. Another friend said that, depending on the reason you kill, it does get easier. Does sound right?"

"I do not believe I've ever heard truer word than those. I must go now, but it truly was good to talk with you again, Max."

"You too, Thor."

Thor then walked away and left Max to contemplate on what had been said between them. Max then decided that he should try to speak with someone he's not too keen to talk to. So he walked down to the cell and quietly snuck up to the entryway to Loki's cell. It was only then that the god of mischief felt his presence.

"There aren't many who can sneak up on me," he said.

"I thought a talk between us was about due," Max said.

"Hmm... I agree. Look at us... so alike and yet so different. Barton told me everything about you. How interesting of a life you've had."

"That's only what he knows. Not many people will know the real me."

"Just like me."

"We're nothing alike."

"Really? Think about it," Loki said, walking over to him. "We're both overlooked by all in favor of the rest of our families. We both are mysterious and secretive in our own way. And we'll do whatever it takes to get whatever we want."

"That's where you're wrong. Unlike you, who has wallowed in your jealousy and misery for who knows how long, I went out and made a name for myself. What I have done in my life thus far, almost no one has ever done. We're nothing alike, Loki, and you will fail. A crown will never rest upon your head, and if one does, it will not be for long. Because you're not fit to be a king."

Loki then got angry and hit the glass with the side of his fist to try to scare Max, who didn't so much as flinch.

"I am going to ensure that you suffer!! More than you clearly already are. And when _you_ wallow in _your_ misery, I will my attention to all of those you love and ensure their deaths are slow and painful. Then when you see just how much of a failure you are, I'll rip your barely beating heart out!!"

"...Tough talk," he said, completely unaffected by the threat he had just received. "Can't wait to see how you back it up. See ya later."

Max just walks out and leaves Loki alone again.

"...What an asshole," he said to himself once he'd left.

He then walked back to the lab and began helping his father and Bruce.

"Where were you?," Tony asked.

"Talking to some friends."

 **I'll stop here. Hope you all like this, not too sure about this one. But no matter what, hope you like it and until the next chapter is up, see ya later.**


	14. Battle on the Helicarrier

**Avengers 1 part 3**

 **I own only my original characters, nothing else.**

Max began to walk around the helicarrier, seeing as much as he could. He was beginning to contemplate something, and he needed a second opinion on it so he turned to only person he could talk to about this.

"Hey, Shuri, I need to ask you something and I need you honest opinion," he asked via texting.

" _Of course. What's wrong?_ ," she asked.

"Do you think I should tell my parents about my abilities?"

" _...I think you should do what you believe you must do. If you want a straight answer though... yes, I think you should. The longer you don't tell the, the more damage you will cause._ "

"...Okay then. I'll tell them when the time is right. Wish me luck on it, because it's not exactly my dad that I'm scared of."

" _Hahaha... good luck then_ ," she said and signed off.

"Hey, kid," Steve said, walking up to him. "What're you doing?"

"Texting a friend," he said.

"What's texting?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You're from the Forties. Texting is... I guess like writing a letter over the phone that people can respond to as soon as they get it."

"Well, that makes thing easier. Was that friend of yours this Shuri?"

"It was indeed. Just getting her opinion on something. Maybe when all of this is done, and we have the Tesseract again... I'll tell my parents about my abilities."

"I think you'd be doing the right thing," he said.

"Yeah... I certainly hope so. Why are you still in your suit?"

"You must always be ready for action."

"Well, in that case... I'm gonna go suit up," he said and he walked away to his temporary quarters and got out the bag he had brought from Wakanda and onto the carrier with him.

Some time later, Max walked back out in his Arc suit, which quickly got the attention of Natasha and Fury.

"That's quite the getup you got on, kid," Fury said.

"Jealous?"

"Impressed, more than anything else. Where did you get that?"

"Made it. Not gonna tell you how though."

"...Fair enough," he finally said and went back to work.

"When did you find time to make that?," Natasha asked and Max shrugged.

"I'm amazing," he answered. "Even got a name for me. Arc."

"Arc?"

"Like arc reactor."

"Oh... aren't you worried about your father finding out about you know what?"

"I thought about it for a while and I've decided to tell him when all of this is done."

"...Shuri told you that you should, Didn't she?," Nat said with a smirk and Max just blushed.

"S-Shut up!!," he exclaimed and his sister figure just laughed and got up.

"Well, I've gotta go."

"So do I."

They parted ways and Max went over to the lab and Tony immediately was surprised by his son's new look.

"Whoa... nice suit," he said. "How did you make that without me finding out?"

"There's a lot of things that JARVIS keeps from you for me," he said and left it at that as he turned to Banner. "How go things with that algorithm?"

"We're getting close," he answered. "Your work from earlier helped a lot. Really kickstarted the process."

"I aim to please. While you, Dad... aim to infiltrate and annoy."

"Sorry?"

"You know what I'm talking about. I saw you place a device on a desk so that JARVIS can infiltrate the SHIELD database."

"Hey, I just want to know all of their secrets."

"They might be secrets for a reason, you know?

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?," Fury asked as he entered with a displeased look on his face.

"Uh- kind of been wondering the same thing about you."

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are," Banner said, gesturing towards a screen. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"And you'll get your cube back, no fuss, no muss," Tony said then a new thing appeared on his screen. "What is Phase Two?"

Steve then came in and slammed a large HYDRA gun onto the table behind everyone.

"Phase Two is SHIELD used the Cube to make weapons," Steve accused. "Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-."

"I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?"

Tony turns the screen towards Fury. It shows a plan for some a missile.

"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit."

"Are we really doing this right now? Really?," Max asked, shocked they were beginning to argue over all of this as Nat and Thor came in and Banner immediately turned to her.

"Did you know about this?," Banner asked Natasha.

"You want to think removing yourself from this environment, Doc?," she asked.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you."

"Loki is attempting to manipulate us all. You're all letting him," Max said, trying to stop the arguing.

"And you've all done what about that?," Bruce asked. "But what I want to knto know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction," Banner stated.

"Because of him," Fury said, pointing to Thor.

"Me?," he said.

"Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet they had a grudge match that level a small town. We learned that you're not only not alone we are hopelessly, no hilariously outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet."

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the cube!," Steve argued.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war!!"

"A higher form?!"

"You forced our hand! We had to come up with some-," Fury tried to say but was cut off.

"Nuclear deterrent! 'Cause that always calms everything right down," Tony said

Everyone becomes hostile and begin cutting each other off. It was at this moment that Max finally gave up arguing as he could see that tensions were too high for them to listen.

"You speak of control and yet you court chaos!!," Thor said.

"It's his MO, isn't it?," Banner said. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time bomb."

"You need to step away," Fury said.

"Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?," Tony asked, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder who immediately pushed it off.

"You know damn well why! Back off!," Steve yelled.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Tony said and Max and Natasha shrugged slightly and tipped theirs to the side for a moment at this statement.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire."

"...Always a way out," he said. "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero, like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Alright, that's enough!!," Max exclaimed, getting between his father and Steve. "We've all proven our points. Now can we please move on and find the Tesseract. Besides, this is what Loki wants anyway, to divide us."

"I think I'd be more than happy to be divided," Tony said. "As long as it means I don't have to deal with the star spangled man there."

"...Put on the suit. Let's go a few rounds," Steve said and Thor just laughed slightly.

"You people are so petty, and tiny," Thor stared and Max glared at him.

"Yeah, this is a team," Bruce said.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-," Fury began to say but was interrupted

"Where? You rented my room out."

"The cell was just-."

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't, I know, I tried!!"

He stops once he realized what he had just said, and now everyone was staring at him in shock and disbelief.

"I got low. I didn't see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk," Banner said, getting upset and unknowingly grabbed the scepter. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

Everyone began to see just how aggravated Banner was starting to get and almost immediately, Fury and Natasha began to reach for their guns.

"Doctor Banner... put down the scepter," Captain America said and Banner looked down to see that he was indeed holding the scepter.

"Did you even notice?," Max asked.

"No. No, I did not."

The monitor next to Banner then began blinking and they saw that it had tracked down the cube.

"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all," Banner said and Max actually looked a little disappointed.

"Located the Tesseract?," Thor asked.

"Possibly," Max said as the others continued to go at each other's throats. Then he and Banner noticed where the signal was coming from.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Tony threatened.

"Put on the suit," Steve practically demanded.

"Oh my God," Banner said and then a turbine went down and the floor began to give way.

Then all of a sudden, everything slowed down, at least to Max. He quickly ran off and got his helmet on and came back. He saw Thor, Nat and Banner all going down and knew that they'd be fine. So, using his speed, he pushed his father and Steve to the side and they fell down one floor below as Max grabbed Fury and jumped through the window and back into the control room.

"You good?," Max asked as he got Fury back up.

"I'm good. Now go help your father," he said.

Max nodded and sped off as Steve and Tony scrambled to their feet.

"Put on the suit," Steve said.

"Yup," Tony agreed and began to run towards the lab.

"Nope. We have no time!!"

Max grabbed his father and then sped to where his armor was being held in storage. Once they got there, Tony just stared at him in shock.

"Not even close to how I wanted to break it to you and mom, but better now than never. I'll explain after all of this."

He then sped off back towards the control room. People are running around, yelling and grabbing guns as the monitors are beeping wildly. SHIELD techs are panicing. SHIELD agents are gearing up and running to their stations.

Hill is standing at her command area, looking at a screen.

"I'm back. What's the situation?"

"Number Three engine is down," Hill said and went over to a tech as Max did as well. "Did we get a run in? Talk to me."

"The line looks mostly intact," the tech said.

"Can we send someone out to make repairs?"

"No. Now while we're in the air."

"We lose one more engine, we won't be," Hill said.

"Then we need to head over the water, now," Max said. "Make it happen!!"

"Yes, sir," the tech said.

"Right. In the meantime, we do need to send someone outside to get the turbine back online. Dad, Steve, do you copy?"

" _Yeah. We copy. We're on our way_ ," Steve said over coms.

"Coulson, initiate defensive lock down in the contingent center. Then get to the armory," Fury said over his coms then he turned to Max. "Max, go find Agent Romanoff and Doctor Banner."

He nodded and sped off to the lower levels.

"Nat!!," he called out.

"Oh... Max!! We're over here!!," Natasha called out.

He ran towards her voice and found her on the ground and her leg was trapped under a large pipe. Nearby was Banner, groaning in pain loudly, and this meant only one thing: the Hulk was breaking out.

"...Come on, let's get you out of here."

He quickly went over to her and lifted the pipe up, and Nat pulled her leg out, surprised slightly at how he was able to lift the pipe effortlessly. Max went over and wrapped her arm around his shoulder and picked her up.

"I can't risk running while carrying you in these tight spaces," he explained. "I could hurt while doing so."

"Okay," she said and they both turned to see Bruce was losing control. "Doctor? Bruce, you gotta fight it. This is just what Loki wants. We're gonna be okay. Listen to me."

Meanwhile, a mind controlled Hawkeye and his men landed on the helicarrier and were making their way across the deck and over to an air vent. His men kick in the vent and they quickly moved into it and began to disperse and proceed with the plan.

"You three, keep that engine down," he ordered and three men proceeded to the engine room. "You two, detention. Wait for the camera to go dark."

They leave and Barton makes his way towards the control room. Meanwhile, Max and Natasha continued to try to help Bruce calm down, but soon Max saw that it was useless.

"We're gonna be okay. Right?," Nat said as Max continued to carry her. "I swear to you on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never ever-."

"YOUR LIFE?!!," Bruce yelled, some bitter amusement turning in his voice began to change and it sounded like a threat.

"It's no good, Nat," Max said and he began to slowly run out.

Bruce began to transform more, growling as he did so. Max turned back and saw that the last fragment of Bruce was looking at them, pleasing for them to run. Then his eyes changed and the Hulk took over.

"Go, go... we've gotta get going!!!," Nat yelled and Max ran faster.

As he did, the Hulk slowly got to his feet and roared as the lights go out.

"Okay, I can stand."

Unsure, Max reluctantly put Natasha down and then helped her back up. They quickly began to move again, running up the catwalk stairs nearby as the began to chase them both.

Thry began swinging around the area, rolling underneath things and into small places to stay ahead of the Hulk, who immediately destroyed what they had gone through to try to get to them.

In the cell, Loki hears the Hulk roar... and grins.

Back on the bridge, Fury was beginning to retake control of the situation.

"Bring the carrier to a one-eight-zero south. Take us to the water!!," he ordered.

"We're blind. Navigation recalibrated after the engine failure," an agent said.

"Is the sun coming up?"

"...Yes, sir."

"Then put us on the left. Get us over water. One more turbine goes down then we drop."

As this happened, Captain America finally arrived at Engine Three.

"Stark! Stark, I'm here," he exclaimed over the noise of the wind.

Just then, Tony showed up in his Iron Man suit and flew close to the engine.

Tony, in full Iron Man armor flies close to the engine.

"Good. Let's see what we got," he said as he examined each level of the massive piece of machinery as he spoke to himself. "I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris."

He pushed the cooling system back into place as he turns back to Steve before flying off to the turbine.

"Rogers, I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position."

Captain Rogers jumps over and swings himself over to the control panel nearby and opens it up while Iron Man works on the engine. The panel was mainly orange in color and wiring all over and red lights flashing and Steve just looked at with no clue as to how it works.

" _What's it look like in there?_ ," Tony asked over coms.

"It seems to run on some form of electricity."

" _Well... you're not wrong. But tell me, did you know about my son's... condition? I need to know._ "

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. Found out yesterday, said he was gonna tell you after all of this a few hours ago. Focus now, Tony."

Tony said nothing to and simply began to explain to Rogers how the panel worked.

Back with Max and Natasha, the two were still being chased by the Hulk. They were hiding at the moment, but knew that they had to face it eventually. Without saying a word, Nat looked at Max and he could tell what she was planning. She pulled out her gun as he ejected the claws on his hands and the two of them walk out from behind the pipes they were behind. Max used the training he got from T'Challa and silently climbed to a higher area so as to get a better look. At first, nothing happened, but then the Hulk came out and roared at them. Nat shot at the piping above him and the steam escaping it distracted the Hulk and she ran.

The Hulk began to chase her, destroying all in his path. Suddenly, Max jumped onto his back and began punching at him.

"Go!!! I'll keep him busy!!!," Max yelled.

"I'm not leaving you!!!," Nat yelled.

"GO!!!!!"

This time made her feel something that compelled her to go and she reluctantly did so, though not very far.

The Hulk threw him off and grabbed him again and got near his face as he growled. Max retaliated by scratching at the green monster's face, leaving big cuts. The Hulk released him and placed a hand to his face but then it healed and he glared at the fifteen year old boy.

"...Probably shouldn't have done that," Max said to himself.

Hulk roared and charged at him, hitting him to the ground. He began to punch at him and as he was about to deliver a killing punch, Thor tackled him through a wall and the two were now in a docking area.

Max slowly got up, partially stunned from the attack and he looked to see a horrified Natasha looking at him.

"You alright?"

"Am I alright?! Are _you_ alright?!," she exclaimed and ran over to support him as he began to fall over.

"I don't think I am," Max said and he fell to his knees and pulled off his helmet and coughed up some blood. "I think a rib or two might be cracked. Maybe some internal bleeding."

"We need to get you to med bay."

"Sure, sure. Can we please just... sit here for a moment?," Max asked and she nodded and had hit sit against a wall and she sat next to him. "Do me a favor... and shoot me if I ever do something like that again."

"With pleasure," Natasha said, half joking and half serious. " _Never_ do something like that again. What were you thinking?"

"Thinking about protecting my family. You and Clint are like the brother and sister I never had. I'll do anything to protect you both."

Nat couldn't help but smile at this and it was then that their coms went off.

" _It's Barton, he took out our_ _systems. He's headed for the detention lab. Does anybody copy?," Fury said and Natasha looked at Max, who nodded._

"...This is Agent Romanoff. I copy," Nat said and got up. "I'll have a medical team come and pick you up so stay here."

"You got it... sis," Max said and Nat smiled as she ran off to stop Hawkeye. "Like hell, I'm gonna stay here."

Max quickly picked himself up and began heading off down another way to the detention lab. It was a lot faster route and as he arrived, he saw Loki had been freed and Thor was now in the cell. He cracked the glass with Mjolnir and the restraints holding it were released, leaning only for the floor to be opened, something Loki was very tempted to do.

"Move away please," Coulson said and Loki did so. Phil looked to Max, who was leaning against the wall, still in pain, and then looked at the god of mischief again. "Do you like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?"

As he was about to fire the weapon, Coulson was then impaled by Loki's scepter.

"NO!!!!," Thor and Max yelled, the latter was then thrown a distance by Loki and into a wall near the control console.

The illusion of Loki disappeared and the real one walked back over to the console and after a few more moment... the chute opened and the cell fell with Thor in it.

"No!!," Max yelled and Loki kicked him in the face.

"This is how I back up my 'tough talk,' boy. Now all I have to do now is to finish the job."

"You're gonna lose," Coulson said weakly sndbthey looked back at him, slumping on the floor and the gun in his lap.

"Am I?"

"It's in your nature."

"Your heroes are either scattered or wounded. Your flying fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

"...I don't think I-," Loki began to say, then, Coulson fired the gun and it shot out a blast similar to that of the Destroyer and sent Loki flying through a wall and Max just looked at Phil, quite impressed by the feat.

"So that's what it does," Phil said and looked to see Max running over to him. "So how's your day been?"

"Haha-ow...," Max said and they looked to see that Loki had run off. "Well, I fought the Hulk and he pretty much used me as a punching back. Thankfully, I heal faster than other people."

Coulson laughed a little at this and Max saw that he was getting weaker.

"Hey. Hey, don't you dare give up. Not on my watch."

It was at that moment that Fury and a few other agents arrived to find them there.

"I'm sorry boss, but he rabbited."

"Just stay awake," Fury said in his usual tone, but Max could tell that he was quite worried. He saw that Coulson head was going down and he moved it back to face him. "Eyes on me."

"Oh, I'm clockin' out here," Phil said.

"Not an option," Max stated.

"It's okay, guys. This was never gonna work... if they didn't have something... to..."

His breathing halted before he could finish and Max and Fury slowly stood up to let the medical team through. Max couldn't help but let some tears fall, but still stood silent as Fury leaned against the railing.

Everything on the helicarrier has calmed down as Iron Man and Captain America were able to get the turbine back up, with immense difficulty. Hill sat at a table while a doctor had a look at the head wound she had received in the fight.

" _Agent Coulson is down_ ," Fury said over coms and she immediately swatted the doctor away.

Nat stood on a catwalk with an unconscious Barton nearby and a turbine damaged Iron Man stood with a worn out Captain America, all of whom looked grim at hearing the news.

" _A medical team is on its way to your location_ ," a SHIELD worker said.

" _They're here. ...They called it._ "

Sometime later, Max, Tony, Steve and Fury all gathered around the table in the conference room with Hill standing nearby. No one says anything at the moment, still grieving over Coulson's death. Then Fury takes out a handful of trading cards with blood on them.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them," he said and scatters them across the table and Steve picked up one and felt guilty over not signing them. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube. Banner... Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. ...Think I had that coming."

Fury then began to walk around the table as Max and Steve watched him but Tony looked away as he was taking the loss worse than the others.

"Yes... we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea...Stark knows this... called the Avengers Initiative."

Max immediately gave his full attention to what Fury was saying, as did Steve.

"The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people... to see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to... to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes."

It all became too much for Tony and he quickly gets up and walks out.

"Well... it's an old fashioned notion," Fury said, patting Max on the shoulder and walked back over to the bridge.

Max quickly got up and ran to catch up to his father, as he was now pretty much completely healed, though still sore.

"Dad!!," Max called out and Tony turned around.

"...How could you?," Tony asked angrily. "How could you keep this from me? How did you even get like this?!"

"...The reactor overload."

"...You've had these powers for four years?!!"

"I discovered them the day I came home. I never told because... I just didn't want you to stop me from using them."

"...And you got after me for keeping secrets," he said and walked off and Steve walked up to Max.

"He'll get over it. Don't worry," Steve said.

"My Dad forgives, but he doesn't forget. More times than not, that's even worse. It's gonna take a good long while for this to blow over with him. I just hope my mom takes it better than him."

Max walks off and Steve walks over to where Tony went.

Max walked over to a medical room where Natasha sitting next to Clint.

"...You good now?," he asked, standing at the door.

"Yeah, kid, I'm good now," he said. "Spider lady here had to hit me hard on the head to knock some sense into me."

"Isn't that how everyone does that?"

Natasha snickered but Clint just looked unamused at the joke.

"Heard you didn't stay put," Natasha said.

"Well, I hate sitting on the sidelines. Even when I place myself there. No doubt you heard about Coulson, right?"

"Yeah... I'm gonna miss him."

"If it makes you feel better, he died a hero," Max said, sitting across from them. "...My dad knows now."

"How'd he take it?," Clint asked.

"Bout as well as you'd expect him to take it. Add that with just losing a good friend..."

"I think it might be better for him to know, Max," Natasha said. "At least there are no more secrets between you."

"Yeah... no more secrets," Max said convincingly enough.

Max then walked out and began to wander around. Then he got a message and saw that it was Shuri, and immediately he began to feel better.

" _Hey, Max,_ " she said. " _How's your day been?_ "

"...Not very good," he answered. "One of my friends at SHIELD was being mind controlled by Loki, he's fine now thankfully, but he attacked the helicarrier, almost brought it down. My dad almost died stopping that from happening, I was almost killed by the Hulk. Then to top it all off... I lost another friend of mine."

" _I'm so sorry, Max. I really am. Wait... you fought the Hulk?!! You idiot!!_ "

"Oh, tell me about it. If I didn't have accelerated healing and wasn't tougher than I look, I think I'd be dead. Anyway, I had to show my powers to my dad. He didn't take it well especially since that friend of mine was also one of his."

" _Don't worry, Max. He'll understand one day. You just have to be patient. What happened to the others?_ "

"Banner and Thor are missing in action. We're all in grief, Nat and I both were absolutely terrified by the Hulk. We're flying blind as we don't know where the Tesseract is and Loki escaped."

" _I know you'll stop him. You're Arc. You can do anything. I believe that and I always will._ "

"...What would I do without you, Shuri?," Max said as Steve walked over in full getup. "Sorry, I've gotta go. Bye."

" _Goodbye, Max_ ," Shuri said and then went offline.

"What's up?," Max asked.

"We've found him. Stark Tower," Steve said and Max's eyes widened and he quickly sped off and got on a quinjet.

"Thank you, Clint, for showing me how to fly this thing."

He got it started and turned on the cloaking device. He flew out and Fury could tell something moved outside.

"...Same old Arc," Fury said to himself. "You'll never change."

 **Hope this was good. I'll try to have the next part up as soon as I can. Until then, see ya later.**


	15. Battle of New York

**Here's the final part of the Avengers 1.**

 **I own only my original characters, nothing else. Credit for the idea of this story belongs to sketchywolf.**

Max continued to fly off towards New York, ahead of the others. He neared Stark Tower as Selvig was now almost all set on readying the portal in the roof.

"Agents Lion and Lioness, do you copy?," Max said, hoping for an answer but received nothing. "Terry, Alice, do either of you copy?"

Suddenly, his quinjet was struck by something and he only had a few seconds to run out and jump towards the building. He landed on the outside balcony as the craft came crashing down to the ground, thankfully not hurting anyone.

He slowly walked inside as he looked for anything suspicious.

"Young Mr. Stark. How good of you to join us," Loki said and Max turned to see him holding a badly beaten Alice by the neck. Then Terry came in, looking equally beaten and he charged at the god of mischief, swords drawn. But Loki merely swatted him away. "These two have been such a nuisance to me."

"Put her down, Loki," Max demanded.

"...Ahh... so they're also your friends. Well... now you can watch them die as well."

Loki then impaled Alice with his scepter before he could even start running.

"ALICE!!!!," Terry yelled and Loki allowed him to crawl over to her body that was now on the floor. He slowly pressed his forehead to hers before he realized something and he glared at Max with rage in his eyes. "...You did this. He killed her to torture you!!!"

"Yes, and now it is your turn."

Loki then blasted him through the window, but this time, Max ran to grab his hand before he could fall.

"Terry!! Hold on!!!"

Even with his advanced strength, Max knew that he couldn't hold on for long and soon, Terry was slipping.

"Quick!!! Give me your other hand!!," Max yelled, but Terry simply looked down at the ground and saw it was a very long way down and then he looked back up at him.

"...No," he said and he pulled out a gun and fired at Max.

The shot bounced off of Max's mask, making a piece of the bullet hit Terry in his right eye and caused Arc to let go of his hand instinctively. Terry began falling and sliding down the side, trying to slow his fall, but it was hardly working. Eventually, he neared the ground and went straight through the glass roof of a bus stop.

"...Damn it!!!"

"It was because of you that I lost the throne of Asgard," Loki stated. "Now you pay the price for it."

"...You'll pay for this."

"Yes, he will," Tony said as he barely landed on the platform. "Peacefully or not is up to him."

He began to walk down and into the building as the machines built into the platform removed his suit for him.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said as he walked closer to Tony as he walked behind the bar.

"Uh- actually, I'm planning to threaten you."

"Haha... you should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah, well... it's seen a bit of mileage. You've got the uh- glowstick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no- threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one. Max, you want one? Might be the last time you could have one?"

"...Maybe later," Max said as he watched the two interact.

The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that," Loki said, looking out at the city. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers," Tony answered and Loki just looked confused as he'd never heard of them. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

"Yes, I'm met them."

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-god;."

Loki turned away for a moment and Tony took this opportunity to slip on a pair of bracelets onto his wrists.

"A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins; a speedo kid who just loves to keep secrets, so long as they're not kept from him," Tony said, looking at his son, who rolled his eyes. "And you... big fella... you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan," Loki stated and Tony began to walk to the center of the penthouse where Loki was at.

"Not a great plan. When they come... and they will... they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk."

"Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off."

"Yeah, you're missing the point," Tony said. "There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. 'Cause if we can't protect the earth, you can be damned sure we'll avenge it."

"How will your friends have time for me... when they're so busy fighting you?," Loki said and pressed the scepter to Tony's chest... but nothing happened. He tried again, and again, still nothing happened. "This usually works."

"Yeah, it's probably because of the reactor," Max said.

"Also, performance issues. You know? Not uncommon. Like, one out the-."

Loki then blasted Max away a distance and grabs Tony by the throat and throws him across the room.

"JARVIS, anytime now," Tony said and Loki lifted him up again.

"You will all fall before me."

"Deploy!!," Tony yelled and Loki threw him out the window.

"DAD!!!!!," Max yelled.

"It is just not your day, is it?," Loki commented, then behind him, the Mark VII suit rocketed out, knocking him down and shot straight down to a still falling Tony.

It scanned the bracelets he wore and slowly suit up and just as he was about to hit the ground, he stopped his fall and flew back up.

"And there's one other person you pissed off!," Iron Man said as he flew back into Loki's view. "His name is Phil."

Iron Man fires a repulsor blast at the god of mischief was knocked down. Meanwhile the device on the roof holding the Tesseract powered up and shoots a stream of blue energy at the sky and opens a portal through which the Chitauri army began to come through. Large, grey, humanoid creatures with golden armor and golden ships. The hordes of aliens soon began to fly through.

"Right... army."

"Go, I'll keep Loki busy," Max said as his claws were ejected.

"We've certainly have a lot to talk about if we live," Tony said and he flew up at the army who slowly began to attack the city.

Loki slowly got back up to see Arc standing in front of him.

"Do you really believe that you can defeat me? With an army at my back, I am an unstoppable force."

"Then that makes me and the Avengers an immovable object."

Loki blasted at him again, but Max dodged it this time and sped towards him. He began to slash at him, using his combat training he received from T'Challa. Loki seemed to be surprised at how much better at combat he'd become, but he quickly adapted and began countering his attacks as best he could. Soon enough, due to his very slightly superior strength, Loki was able to grab Max by the arms. He replied with a repulsor blast from the chest. However, it went straight through him and revealed to be an illusion.

Loki appeared behind him and threw him out the window. Instead of dying however, Max got closer to the building and began to speed down it, safely running down and landing on the ground.

"...Show off," Loki said.

Max quickly speeds off into the city, intent in helping civilians. As he ran, he saw the Chitauri begin to terrorize and kill civilians, blowing up vehicles, streets and buildings.

Back at Stark Tower, Loki walked out onto the pad, his Asgardian armor beginning to materialize as he watched the chaos he had brought about commence. Suddenly, Thor landed on the lower platform, in full armor and ready for battle.

"Loki!!," Thor yelled, causing his brother to look at him. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!!"

"You can't. There is no stopping it," Loki replied. "There is only... the war."

"So be it."

Loki yells as he jumps down and the two begin to battle each other, a blast from Loki's elongated scepter knocking off a letter from the STARK sign on the tower.

As they fought, Max and Tony continued to fend off as much of the Chitauri as they could.

"Dad, is the calvary on its way?," Max asked over coms.

" _Yup. They should be here any second now_ ," Tony replied.

Just then, a second quinjet arrived, carrying Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye. They quickly fly towards Stark Tower, which still had the blue beam shooting into the sky from the Tesseract.

" _Stark, we're on a three, heading northeast_ ," Natasha said over coms.

 _"What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing that park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you._ "

Iron Man flies around the tower, making sharp turns and causing some Chitauri crafts to crash into the building. Max stopped and watched it all happen from the ground as the quinjet began firing on the army as Tony let out a continuous blast in front of them as well. The quinjet flew through the smoke created and proceeded towards Stark Tower.

"Captain, I might need some help down here soon," Max said.

" _Roger. We'll be with you in a moment_ ," Steve said and Max began to speed through the city again.

As they continued to fight, Loki spotted the quinjet and proceeded to blast a wing. This angers Thor greatly and he tackles him to the ground and they then continued to exchange blows. The rest of the team began to plummet to the ground, something Max saw and quickly ran towards them as they crashed.

Inside the quinjet, Natasha and Barton hold on for dear life. Cap grabs hold of the roof as the craft grazes buildings and crashes onto a street.

The two master assassins remove their headsets, open the ramp, and then they and Captain America quickly got out and took a good look around.

Stopping as many Chitauri as he could along the way, he eventually made it to the crash site to find Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye.

"You guys alright?," Max asked.

"We're fine. Why did you leave without us?," Steve asked.

"...Because of Alice and Terry," Natasha concluded and Max nodded slowly. "Max, are they...?"

Max simply looked down and shook his head slowly.

"They're both dead. I couldn't save them."

"It's okay, Max, you tried. But right now, I need you to focus. We need to assess the situation fast and come up with a plan."

Max slowly nodded, though the guilt was still clearly on his face and they all looked back at Stark Tower.

"Alright, we gotta get back up there," Steve said.

"I've been searching around for any good positions to take. The overpass nearby will work to assess the situation," Max informed them. "We've gotta get things under control down here before we head back up."

" _He's right. I'll hold the fort up here until then_ ," Iron Man said.

Steve nodded and they all ran over to the overpass, which had a perfect view of Stark Tower and the portal. Then they saw something come out of the portal that they could never had expected, much less imagine.

A massive, armored leviathan like creature, carrying many more Chitauri warriors on its back. A living warship of sorts. The warriors quickly jumped off the creature and onto the sides of building the monster passes. Many of them land inside the building itself and begin to shoot people inside.

"...Well... that was unexpected," Max commented.

"By the way, just so I know, what's your codename?," Clint asked.

"Arc."

"Okay."

"Stark, are you seeing this?," Steve asked, still bewildered.

" _Seeing. Still working on_ _believing...," Tony answered. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"_

"Banner?"

" _Just keep me posted._ _JARVIS, find me a soft spot._ "

Iron Man flies over to the creature and begins to circle and find a weakness as it roars loudly and tears up buildings.

Finally, Thor got Loki in a hold and he gestured to the devastation in Manhattan below them.

"Look at this!! Look around you!!," Thor yelled. "You think this madness will end with your rule?!!"

"It's too late. It's too late to stop it," Loki said

"No. We can... together."

Loki paused only for moment, and then sliped a knife into his hand and stabbed Thor and he got down to his knees.

"...Sentiment."

Thor quickly got back up and lifted his brother up into the air and threw him away a distance. Loki replies by rolling himself off the edge of the building, only to land on one of the flying Chitauri crafts. He flew off with a troop of Chitauri as Thor removes the knife and dropped it on the ground and watched the battle commence below.

Barton and Romanoff were now crouching behind a cab as Steve and Max run over to them.

"We've got civilians trapped," Hawkeye said and Loki flew above them. "Loki."

Loki and his army then proceeded to fire on the streets below the heroes, destroying vehicles and civilians and police officers alike ran for their lives.

"They're fish in a barrel down there," Cap said as Natasha gets up and begins firing at an incoming group of Chitauri.

"We've got this. You two, go!!," Nat exclaimed.

"You think you can hold them off?"

"Captain," Hawkeye said as he readied an arrow in his quiver. "It would be my genuine pleasure."

Clint shoots the arrow at one alien, and it then separated into more arrows and killed three more.

"Alright, Max, you watch my back."

"Got it," Max said and they both jumped off the overpass and onto a bus and into the street.

As they fought off the aliens, Hawkeye helped people get off of another bus with Black Widow covering him. Once they were all off, he returned to her side.

"It's like Budapest all over again!!," Natasha yelled over the shooting.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint said back.

Captain America and Arc began to sweep the streets of Chitauri as they looked for nearby officers of the law. Soon they found a sergeant and several other cops with him, trying to assess the situation and attempting to keep the aliens at bay.

"It's gonna be an hour before they scramble the National Guard," one cop informed his superior officer.

"National Guard?!," he said and they both ducked to avoid a Chitauri blast. "Does the army even know what's happening here?!"

"Do we?"

It was then that Captain America and Arc arrived and got on top of the car they were behind.

"You need men in these buildings," Steve began to order the cops, pointing to some buildings to his right. "There are people inside and they'll be walking right into the line of fire. You take them to the basement or through the subway, you keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?"

Then a Chitauri jumped onto the car that he was on and Arc sped over to the side of a building and jumped off of it and down on top of the alien and blasted it in the face as another came and Rogers struck it in the head with his shield and then rammed into it and towards Max, who then slashed its face and Steve kicked it of the car and they looked back at the cop.

"That's why," Arc said.

"...I need men in these buildings. We need to keep the people off the streets, get them into the subway," he began ordering his men, then spoke on his radio. "We need to set up a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"I'll go and help them set up the perimeter."

"Head back to Nat and Clint afterwards."

Max nodded and sped off to help the cops as Iron Man began to fire missiles and other such ammunition at the leviathan, which finall turned and began to chase him.

"It noticed me...yay!," Tony said as he flew off, the creature still following him and is hot on his tail as well.

Back on the overpass, Barton and Natasha are fighting Chitauri warriors up close. Hawkeye trips one with his bow as Arc returns and grabs an arrow his and stabs the alien in the heart. Black Widow at the moment, was using her Widow's Bite to electrocute another as she sat on his neck. She gets off and quickly grabbed its weapon and began shooting a several aliens.

"Thanks for the save," Clint said.

"Yup, no problem," Arc said back. "Cap ordered the police to set up a perimeter as far back as 39th. They'll escort people off the streets, into the subway and try to give us help from inside the buildings surrounding us."

They nodded as Barton shoots a warrior behind him and Max blasts another down. Black Widow then grabs another weapon and starts fighting off the aliens. A Chitauri nearly sliced her head off, but she dodged it and stabbed it with the blade on the weapon, and then shot another.

They continued fighting with Arc helping them. Max then zoomed past them all and grabbed a Chitauri and kicked it into another as he blasted two more with his repulsors. He then began to run up and across the sides of buildings, blasting off many of the aliens on them. Cap soon rejoins them and Max quickly grabbed his shield as it was in the air and began ramming the aliens down then threw it at high speed and it went clean through five of them before returning to him and sped back towards the others.

"Thanks for letting me borrow it," Max said, handing the shield back to him.

"Yeah, no problem," Steve said, being slightly sarcastic as Thor landed near them, having just killed several Chitauri with a bolt of lightning. "What's the story upstairs?"

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor answered.

" _Thor is right, we gotta deal with_ _these guys," Tony said over coms._

"How do we do this?," Natasha asked.

"As a team."

"I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Oh yeah? Get in line," Hawkeye said as he readied more arrows.

"Save it," Captain America said as began to formulate a plan. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us to-."

He is then interrupted by the rough humming of a motorcycle. They turned to see Banner now back to his old self driving up to them before stopping and walking the rest of the way to them.

"So, this all seems... horrible," he said, judging by the amount of damage done to the city already.

"I've seen worse," Nat said.

"So have I," Max said next.

"...Sorry."

"No, we could- use... a little worse."

"Stark, we got him."

" _Banner?_ "

"Just like you said."

" _Then tell him to suit up_ ," Iron Man said. " _I'm bringing the party to you_."

Iron Man then flew around a corner and then towards the rest of the heroes, with the Leviathan still following him.

"I-I don't see how that's a party," Natasha commented as Iron Man drew the creature down low and it begins to skim the road.

Banner then turned around and began to walk towards the Leviathan.

"Doctor Banner... now might be a really good time for you to get angry," Captain America said as the creature drew closer and closer to killing them all.

"That's my secret, Cap," Banner explained, looking back as he walked, but then stopped. "...I'm always angry."

He then turns around as he quickly transforms into the Hulk at will. The Hulk then punches the Leviathan directly in the face and the sheer force of it being stopped in such a way forced it to flip and it was about to crush the team before Iron man launched missles at its body.

"Hold on!!," he yelled as he launched it and blew up, Barton ditching to avoid it, Max running off to avoid it as well while Thor stood still and took the blast and Captain America shielded himself and Black Widow. As they climbed back on the sides of the buildings, the Chitauri cry out in anger at what had just happened.

The team then stands in a circle with the Hulk roaring, Hawkeye readying an arrow, Black reloading her gun. Captain America and Thor stand ready while Arc makes an 'X' with his arms and ejects his claws at the same time as Iron Man lands next to him.

The Avengers were born.

"...Send the rest," Loki ordered, quite displeased at the team up.

More Leviathans and hundreds more Chitauri warriors then fly through the portal and towards the Avengers.

"...Guys?," Black Widow said, directing everyone's attention to the portal.

"Call it, Captain," Iron Man said.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority containment," Captain America began to instruct his fellow team members said. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Wanna give me a lift?," Hawkeye asked and Tony grabbed him.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas."

The two then flew up and Iron Man dropped the archer off on the rooftop and he immediately began to look around as Stark left to do his own job.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow 'em down. You got the lightning... light the bastards up."

Thor then swings Mjolnir and flew off to do so and Steve looked to Arc.

"Max, I need to you to use your speed to take down as many of these as you can. Also look for any civilians you come across. Get them to safety."

Max nodded and sped off and Steve turned to Natasha.

"You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here," Steve said and he looked at the final member of the Avengers. "And Hulk!"

The mean, green, fighting machine then turned to face the star spangled man, who then points to him.

"...Smash."

He grins at this and jumps up, beginning to smash every single Chitauri he cams across. On the sides of buildings, on the ground, and began to jump in the air to smash the crafts in the air as well.

Thor then lands on the top of the Chrysler Building and summons up some lightning. He then sends it shooting at the portal, killing Leviathans and Chitauri warriors alike.

Fury continued to look at the footage for a moment before nodding.

Back in New York, Barton was relentlessly shooting at Chitauri while keeping a close eye out for more for the team, namely Iron Man and Arc to take out. As Tony dealt with all the ones that were on his tail and then helping Thor deal wit a squadron 6th, Max continued to sweep the streets of aliens.

"Clint, got anything for me?," Max asked.

" _Seems they've gotten tired of you, kid_ ," Hawkeye answered. " _A huge number are gathering around in all directions._ "

"Oh... wonderful."

He looked around to see it was true and then he was grabbed from behind as another starred shooting at him. The blasts however just bounced off his suit and Max blasted his chest repulsor, killing one shooting him and the pushed the one behind him into the building behind him. The force made the alien rip off Max's mask, but that did matter to him at the time. He then cracks his neck and gets out his claws. Then Arc shoots straight through the large number of Chitauri. He grabbed one and rammed many of them and then began to phase through them and killing them from behind. Arc then began to blast them with his repulsors relentlessly, killing most of those left as a Leviathan crash landed and killed any that he missed and crashed through Grand Central. Max then saw that it was Hulk and Thor that took it down, the former then punched the latter away for some reason.

"Okay...," Max said then sped back towards Cap and Nat.

He saw Natasha being pushed onto a car by a Chitauri warrior and he then blasted another one and took his gun and tossed it to Nat and she killed the one she was facing. They heard something behind them and turned to kill it... only to see that it was just Captain America.

"...Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," Natasha said and they all looked up at it.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," he said.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns."

"...You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

"I don't need a ride when I got him."

"Sorry, but I don't think that I can get you up there. Takes a lot of effort to run up the side of a building."

"Okay then... luckily I've got a spare ride. I could use a boost though."

"You sure about this?," Steve asked as he readied his shield.

"Yeah... it's gonna be fun," she said, unsure as well.

She then jumped onto his shield and he gives her a boost. She is sent up into the air and grabs hold of a ship as it flys over her. Black Widow then climbed up and killed the Chitauri on it, trying to fly the craft herself using the alien.

"Okay, turn! Turn! Ah!!," she yelled as she tried to figure out how to fly it.

As she did so, two crafts flew up behind her and began to fire at her. She struggles to avoid them, that is until Iron Man knocked them both out of the sky. He then began to blast at a fleet that was chasing him when he saw his son running across left of him.

"Son, I've got an idea, put your hand out!!," Tony yelled and Max quickly figured out what he was thinking.

"...This is not gonna end well," Max said and they both fired their repulsors and a massive energy surge occurred and it wiped out the fleet behind them. "For them, that is."

Iron Man then flew down to aid Captain America in fending off the aliens on the ground. He then blasted his repulsors at the captain's shield, which reflected it and took down several Chitauri warriors. He flew back up and began taking down more of them.

Arc then was running on a building in Greenwich Village and then jumped down onto a craft. He killed the alien and began shooting down other crafts. But then the Chitauri began firing on him and shit the craft and he landed on the rooftop of a building with a strange looking symbol on it. The Chitauri then were about to fire on him again when all of a sudden, some sort of energy appeared and they were pushed away and into another craft or simply ripped apart. Max followed the energy flow to see a woman in yellow robes standing to his right, looking at him. On her hands were two red orange mandalas made from the same energy that seemed to act like shields or weapons of some sort.

"Are you alright, young Mr. Stark?," she asked, the shields disappearing.

"Uh... yeah. Thanks for the save," Max said and she nodded to him. "Who are you?"

"I am known as the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme. To learn more about myself and what is known as Kamar-Taj, you must have reason. When you find it... find me in Kathmandu."

"What makes you think I'll even go? Can you see the future?," Max asked and she simply smirked at the question.

"I have only ever seen one true future of you, Maxwell Stark," she said. "Now it is up to you whether or not you make it so. Go now. Help your teammates and save the world."

He looked at her for a little while longer before nodding and speeding off back into the fight.

As this happened, Hawkeye continued to shoot arrows at the crafts, dodging blasts and then returning fire.

Max then took notice that the Army had arrived and he quickly sped over to them and directed them where to fire at and where they could begin to evacuate civilians.

"I'll help as many civilians as I can, just keep your focus the aliens and don't shoot my team?" Max ordered and they nodded and proceeded.

Max then began speeding through the buildings, one floor at a time, finding trapped civilians sometimes, and phased them out from the rubble they were under and sped them down to the subway.

" _Captain, the bank on 42nd, past Madison. They cornered a lot of_ _civilians in there_ ," Hawkeye said over the coms.

" _I'm on it_ ," Captain America replied. " _Max, meet me there. I'll hold off the Chitauri, you get the civilians out._ "

"On it," he said and sped towards the location.

In the bank, the large group of civilians were surrounded and being held hostage by three armed Chitauri, who then ready a bomb. But then Captain America appeared by bursting through the window and snapped one of the warrior's necks and threw him into the pit.

"Everybody, follow Arc out!!!," he yelled as a warrior grabbed him from behind.

He was able to get out of its grip, though it ripped off his mask while doing so. Max then saw the bomb and he quickly got everyone out with his speed and sped towards the Captain and tackled him out through a window just as the bomb went off.

They both then landed on a car and took a moment to rest.

"...We have to finish this soon, Cap," Max said, some injuries on his face. "Eventually, we're all gonna get tired and then we'll die."

"You're right. But until then, we have to keep fighting," he said and they continued to do so.

As this happened, Natasha was still aboard the Chitauri craft she had commandeered. She was being chased by other crafts still. She turned to see none other than Loki himself.

"Oh... you," she said as she past the building Barton was at. "Hawkeye!!"

"Nat, what are you doing?," Clint asked as she drew closer.

"Uh... a little help!!"

He then nocked an arrow and smirked when he saw that it was Loki chasing her.

"I got him."

He looses the arrow and it was heading straight for Loki's head. Suddenly, Loki caught the arrow before it hit him, and he looked back at the archer and smirked... and then the arrow blew up in his face and he landed back in the room in Stark Tower. Nat then jumped down from the ship and landed on the roof, with the Tesseract to her right.

Loki looked up to see her, but before he could do anything about her being on the roof, the Hulk jumped up and pushed him inside. The green giant moved to attack him again, but Loki got up and began to yell.

"ENOUGH!!!!!," Loki yelled angrily. "You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature!! And I will not be bullied by-!!"

Loki was then interrupted by the Hulk grabbing his leg and begins to smash him into the floor repeatedly. He then throws him aside in a state of shock and pain, as he did not expect that at all.

"Puny god," Hulk said as he walked away.

Loki then let out a long pain whimper as he had been beaten into submission.

"...The scepter," a now freed Selvig said and Natasha walked over to him.

"Doctor?," she said, kneeling down to his level.

"Loki's scepter, the energy- the Tesseract can't fight it. You can't protect against yourself."

"It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing."

"...Well, actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut the power source."

"...Loki's scepter."

"It may be able to close the portal," he concluded and he looked down at the scepter on the floor below. "And I'm looking right at it."

Meanwhile, Max was running around, helping more civilians get to safety until he came across a woman trying to get a boy out from under a pile of rubble.

"Please, my nephew is trapped!!," she said.

"Move, I can help!!," he said and she did so and he grabbed the kid's hand. "Hey, what's your name?"

"P-Peter Parker," the kid said.

"Well, Peter... don't you worry, I'm gonna get you out of here. Just keep still."

Peter nodded and Max sped away for a moment and as he ran it was almost as if he had turned into mist and went through the rubble. When he came out, he was carrying the eleven year old boy in his arms.

"Peter!!," the woman yelled and quickly hugged the boy. "Thank you. Who are you?"

"I am Arc," Arc said. "You take care of your aunt, okay Peter?"

"Yes, sir," he said and the hero smiled at this.

"Alright, let's get you both down into the subway."

He grabs them both and speeds them all down to the subway and quickly returned to the fight. Then suddenly, Fury was on the coms.

" _Stark, you hear me? You have a_ _missile headed straight for the city," Fury said._

"How long?," Tony asked as he fought off some crafts behind him.

" _Three minutes. Max. Payload can_ _wipe out midtown._ "

"JARVIS, put everything we got into the thrusters!!," Iron Man said.

'I just did,' JARVIS said and they began to fly out of the city and soon enough, intercepted the missile and began to try to change its direction.

All the while, Captain America and Thor caught their weapons at the same time and continued to fend off the aliens. Suddenly, Cap was shot in the ribs and Arc then arrived and both he and Thor fend the Chitauri off, the latter sending a car towards some of them. Max slashes and blast the rest of them down as Thor gets Steve back up.

"You ready for another bout?," Thor asked.

"What, you gettin' sleepy?," Steve teased.

Natasha now had the scepter ready and Selvig got everything ready.

"Right at the crown!!," he yelled and she slowly began to push the spear through the barrier surrounding the cube, but it was very difficult.

"I can close it," Natasha said into coms. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!!!," Steve yelled.

" _No, wait_ ," Tony said.

"Dad, these things are still coming!!," Max said into the coms.

" _I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna_ _blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it._ "

"Dad... that's a one way trip."

" _I know. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I forgive you, son. Thank you for everything, and I want you to know that I love you. I love you and your mother so much._ "

"Dad... don't even think about it."

" _...Goodbye, son_ ," Tony said and he flew the missile and himself through the portal.

"...Damn you..."

Tony's armor soon began to fail and he let go of the missile and it headed toward the Chitauri mothership as he slowly falls back towards the portal. Tony soon passed out due to there being no air in space.

Then the nuke finally reached the mothership, and it exploded in a spectacular fashion. All around the Avengers, the Chitauri warriors collapsed and died, then the Leviathans fell to the ground, but Tony did not come through.

"Come on, Stark," Natasha said, still waiting.

Max then sped off towards Stark Tower and eventually found himself with Nat and Selvig.

"Selvig, long time, no see."

He simply nodded and looked back at the portal. Eventually, Cap had to make the call.

"...Close it," Steve said and Max closed his eyes.

Natasha plunged the scepter into the device more and pushed the cube out of position and the device exploded, leaving the cube on the ground. Max walked over and held the Tesseract in his hand, gazing into it deeply as the portal closed. He looked back up and saw that just before it closed, Iron Man fell through.

"Son of a gun."

"...He's not slowing down," Thor said when they saw he was falling faster and he began to swing Mjolnir.

Then suddenly, the Hulk jumped up and grabbed Tony in midair and landed on the overpass as Captain America and Thor ran over. Thor pulled off his faceplate as Steve tried to check for a heartbeat. But there was nothing and Tony wasn't breathing. Then the Hulk roared and he woke up instantly.

"What the hell? What just happened?," Tony asked. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"...We won," Steve answered.

"...Alright, Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. You ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor said.

"...And then shawarma after?"

" _I hate you sometimes, Dad_ ," Max said over coms.

They all made their way to the penthouse of Stark Tower as Loki began to get up from being pummeled by the Hulk. Then he sensed a large presence behind him and he turned around to see the Avengers surrounding him, Hawkeye pointing an arrow aimed at his face, Max still holding the Tesseract and Natasha held the scepter. None of them had very displeased looks on their faces, some more than others.

"If it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now," Loki said, knowing that he had been defeated.

Later on, in a distant park overlooking Manhattan, Thor stood with Loki and the Tesseract with the Avengers surrounding them.

"Farewell, Avengers. Farewell, brother," Thor said and Max nodded slowly. "Should you ever require my assistance, I will come."

Then he handed the device carrying the Tesseract to Loki and he grabbed the other handle reluctantly and with a turn of the handle Thor held, the two then vanished in a blue light.

Without saying much, everyone said their temporary goodbyes and hugs were exchanged.

"Thank you for saving my life," Natasha said, hugging her little brother, who hugged her back.

"No problem," he said back before she and Clint Barton headed out in his car.

The archer nodded a goodbye to the fifteen year old, who then nodded back, and they then drove off.

Tony then looked to Max, who wasn't walking towards the car, but the opposite direction of it. He turned to look at his father and his face said it all. Tony slowly nodded and he and Banner drove off.

"...Something on your mind, soldier?," Steve asked, having seen his face as well and stood next to him.

"...There was this kid I saved," Max began. "Said his name was Peter, looked to be eleven. Stuck under rubble and I phased through it to save him. Then I got him and his aunt to safety. Second person I ever officially saved."

"What's wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong!! What I want to know is how I was fast enough to save him but not Alice!! Or Terry!! ...Or Coulson..."

"...You can't save everyone, Max. Try as you might," Steve said. "Harsh as it may be to hear, but sometimes, you just don't have the power or the strength to save those you care about. Believe me when I tell you, I know."

"...Bucky?"

"...Yeah...," he answered very quietly. "We're the same, Max. In more ways than you realize. We're both willing to sacrifice everything to save those we love. As for those we couldn't save... best thing to do is to keep on living. Remember them and continue to save as many as you can to honor those you couldn't."

"...You're one hell of a therapist," Max joked and they both chuckled. "...In all seriousness, that actually helps a lot. Thank you, Steve."

"Anytime."

"One other thing."

"Yeah?," he said.

"Peggy Carter is still alive," he informed and Steve's eyes widened greatly. "She's in a nursing home in DC. Bedridden and suffers from dementia... but she's still Peggy. I've visited her a few times, wonderful woman."

"...That she is, kid. That she is."

"...Well... I have to go face my mother's wrath," Max said and Steve chuckled again. "See ya later."

He then sped off back through Manhattan and up Stark Tower and back to the damaged penthouse, and a now shocked Pepper with Tony.

"Um... WHAT?!!!," Pepper yelled.

"So... yeah... I have superpowers. ...Surprise!!"

"Why didn't you tell us?!!"

"Yes, I'd actually like to know as well," Tony said.

"Wait, you knew?," Pepper said.

"I recently found out."

"Are you going to let me answer the question?," Max asked and they stopped talking. "I didn't say anything for somewhat the same reason Dad tried to keep being Iron Man a secret. I was afraid that you'd try to stop me from using them. From being a hero."

"...I'll say it again, you boys will be the death of me," Pepper said calmly. "Alright... I'll accept that answer. Just promise to not keep anything from us again."

' _A promise I cannot keep_ ,' Max thought to himself.

"...I promise."

Some time past and Max explained just how he got his powers and almost everything else that has happened to him in the past four years.

That night, he received a message.

" _I saw what happened on the tv!!! Are you alright?!!_ ," Shuri messaged.

"I'm not dead nor injured, but alright... I will be, given time."

" _What do you mean?_ "

"...I failed to save some friends."

" _...I'm so sorry, Max. But they wouldn't want you to wallow in shame and guilt. They'd want you to save as many others as you can._ "

"Funny... Steve said the same thing," Max said. "Steve is Captain America. But anyway, I'm now part of a superhero team. Jealous?"

" _Uhh... yeah!!_ ," she exclaimed. " _That woman on the team... is that Natasha?_ "

"Yup and the archer is Clint."

 _"Okay then. Well, I'll let you be now. You must be completely exhausted._ "

"Understatement of the next three years," Max joked. "Goodnight, Shuri."

" _Goodnight, Max. I'm glad you're alright._ "

"...Me too."

Later on, he walked back to the main penthouse room after his parents went to sleep, and he began to do research on the Tesseract.

'What exactly are you looking for, Max?,' JARVIS asked.

"It's the Tesseract, JARVIS," he explained, not stopping from doing his little house project. "There's is most definitely something far more to it than even SHIELD knows about it. I beginning to develop a theory on it, and on whether there are any other powers like it. Could you please see if any of my old colleges, preferably Oxford, would be able to receive me? I'd like to give a lecture on my theory at some point?"

'Of course, sir. When would you like this to be?'

"Oh... let's say about a year from now. That way they have plenty of time to schedule it in. And I have plenty of time to do research."

'Very well, sir,' JARVIS said and Max went to work on researching his theory.

SHIELD Headquarters

Terry slowly awoke to have vision in only one eye. He blinked a few times as he began to fully awaken, and looked at his surroundings.

"Ah... I see you've awoken," a voice said and revealed to be none other than Secretary Alexander Pierce himself. "My sympathies for the loss of your sister, Agent Scott."

"...W-Where am I?," he asked.

"You're at SHIELD. No one knows that you're alive, bar a few. I've come to offer you a second chance. What would you give for revenge?"

"...Everything I am. Everything I was... and will be."

"Good. Hail HYDRA."

"...Hail HYDRA," Terry said and then unexpectedly grabbed Pierce by the tie and pulled him down to his face. "But I will only serve if you give me the means to kill Maxwell Stark!!"

"...Easily done," Pierce said, smirking.

Space

Meanwhile, in farthest reaches of the universe, a small hooded figure kneels before a throne with the one sitting in it facing away from him.

"Humans... they are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand," the person said. "They are unruly, and therefore cannot be ruled."

The person in the chair then stands up and the first person bows his head back down and grunts as if in pain. Then after a moment, he looks back up slightly.

"To challenge them... is to court... Death."

The larger figure slowly turned his head to reveal a massive purple face, and he simply smiled.

 **Hope you liked this. Next chapter will be Iron Man 3, afterwards will be Thor: The Dark World. Until the next chapter is up, see ya later.**


	16. Another Day, Another Danger

**Iron Man 3 part one.**

 **I own only my original characters, nothing else. Credit for the idea of this story belongs to sketchywolf.**

Several months have passed since New York, and Christmas was right around the corner.

While Max seems to be alright with what happened and what he went through, Tony was a different story. He almost never slept, always down in the shop in their home in Malibu, working on new suits.

Now, Max couldn't sleep at the moment so he thought he should research and develop his theory more. That is he was until he began to hear slight pained yelling coming from the shop.

"JARVIS, what is my dad doing?," Max asked.

'Installing his new micro-repeaters into his arms,' the AI answered.

"Implant repeaters?"

'For his new suit, sir.'

Max rolled his eyes and sped down to see his father indeed implanting micro-repeaters into his arm.

'Sir, please may I request just a few hours to calibrate-,' JARVIS tried to reason.

"No. Forty-eight. Ah!," Tony said, injecting another repeater into his left arm. "Micro-repeater implanting sequence complete."

'As you wish, sir. I've also prepared a safety briefing for you to entirely ignore.'

"Which I will. Right, let's do this."

"Having fun?," Max asked, saying the same thing he had said four years ago, and Tony was so surprised, he fell out of the chair he was sitting in. "What are you doing, Dad?"

"Oh just... trying out a new suit. Feel free to stay and watch," Tony offered and Max shrugged at this and walked into the shop completely as Tony looked to Dum-E sweeping the floor with a dunce cap on. "Dum-E!! Hi, Dum-E. How did you get that cap on your head? You earned it."

"Dad, how may suits have you made?"

"Hey. Hey!," Tony said, still talking to the robot arm whilst hitting his Wing Chun dummy. "What are you doing round in the corner? You know what you did. Blood on my mat, handle it."

"JARVIS, how many suits has he made these past few months and how long has he been up?," Max asked as Tony walked over to the platform.

'Your father is currently on Mark 42, and has been awake for nearly seventy-two hours,' the AI answered as Tony turned the first six Iron Man suits in the glass cases behind them.

"Dad..."

"I'm fine, Max. I promise. Now, good evening, and welcome to the birthing suit. I'm pleased to announce the imminent arrival of your bouncing, bad-ass, baby brother."

"...Okay then," Max said and took the camera from the arm and began recording. "Like old times then."

"Okay, awesome then. Start tight and go wide, stamp in time. Mark 42 autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test. Initialize sequence," Tony said and wiggled his fingers and the pieces of the new suit came on. "JARVIS, drop my needle."

The record player then turns on as well and begins to play the Bombay Dub Orchestra Remix of Jingle Bells. Tony began to move to the music and then points his left arm towards the table with the left arm part of the suit on it... but nothing happened.

"Are you sure the implants are working properly?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Tony hit his arm a little and then pointed his arm at the table again and this time, the piece of the suit came flying towards him and it attaches itself to his left arm as another piece attaches itself to the rest of his arm.

"Hmm... not bad," Max said as Tony points his right arm to another table and his right forearm was covered by the suit then. " Not bad at all. Maybe I should override your suit codings and try it out myself.

"Haha... tell you what? If you can make the implants without using your speed, I'll recalibrate the suit to work for you as well."

"Challenge accepted. Alright, JARVIS, send everything else."

A leg piece flew towards Tony and attaches itself to his keg and another flew over him and crashed into one of the Iron Man glass cases. Another part comes towards him, but he avoids it by deflecting it and causing it to crash into the floor next to Max.

"Probably a little fast, slow it down. Slow it down just a-," Tony said and avoided yet another piece flying at him. "...little bit."

"You're fine, Dad. This'll train you to have a faster response time and better reflexes," Max said and Tony then had a look of fear on his face as the other leg piece came on and then a piece forcefully attaches itself to Tony's crotch and then one to his back.

The forcefulness almost pushed Tony off the platform, but he stopped his fall and flew back to the center of the platform.

"Cool it, will you, guys?"

The rest of the suit then flew towards him and attached themselves to him until finally only the faceplate remained. It missed him at first and struck the record player, ending the song and then it flew back up and faced Tony.

"Come on. ...I ain't scared of you."

It begins to fly towards him, only for it to hit a table on the way and flip upside down and backwards and so Iron Man flips over and the plate attaches to his face and left him in a hero pose.

"...I'm the best," Tony said to himself.

"Missed a spot, JARVIS," Max said and a stray piece flew towards his father.

This knocks him down and causes the suit to fall off, apart from the head piece.

'As always, sir, a great pleasure watching you work,' JARVIS said and Max helped his father up.

"See where I'm getting at now?"

"...Yeah, maybe seventy-two hours is a while. Can we at least watch some TV first?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"By the way, why are you still up?," Tony asked.

"Haven't been able to sleep much since New York," Max explained. "I've been working on this theory since then on the Tesseract and the possibility of other similar powers."

Max began to explain his theory to Tony, but soon, he began to notice that his father was turning slightly pale at the mention of what happened in New York and related things.

"Dad, are you okay?"

"Yeah... yeah..."

"No, you're not. You're turning white."

Tony then fell to the floor and and began having difficulty breathing.

"Dad, Dad, just breathe. Breathe in slowly," Max instructed as he tried to calm him down and Tony did as he asked. "Breathe out slowly."

He did as his son said and exhaled slowly, beginning to calm down. He repeated the process a few more times until he began breathing normally.

"...Yeah, okay. I'm good now," Tony said and he tried to get up quickly, but his son then stopped him.

"Get up slowly as well."

He did so and Max helped him to the couch. And sat in a chair next to him.

"What's going on, Dad?," Max asked. "That seemed like a panic attack to me."

"Oh, please. It's me we're talking about, no way would I have anxiety," he said and he then turned on the TV and then... he happened.

Rough footage of a man in green robes and long beard and hair in a ponytail appeared on the screen, him walking past a row of hostages to his left and with a firing squad to his right.

" _Some people call me a terrorist, I consider myself a teacher_ ," the Mandarin said on the footage and the firing squad killed the hostages and then showed footage of Americans and then old photographs of Cheyenne people from the 1800s. " _America, ready for another lesson? In 1864 in Sand Creek Colorado the U.S. military waited till the friendly Cheyenne braves all gone hunting, waited to attack and slaughter their families left behind, and claim their land._ "

Then it showed footage of an explosion in Kuwait.

" _Thirty-nine hours ago the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait was attacked. I... I... I did that. A quaint military church filled with wives and children, of course. ...The soldiers were out on maneuver... the braves were away._ "

The footage changed again to show the current President of the United States, President Ellis and continued switching from him and then back to the Mandarin.

" _President Ellis... you continue to resist my attempts to educate you, sir. And now, you've missed me again. You know who I am... you don't know where I am... and you'll never see me coming._ "

The footage ends and Max and Tony were left in semi-shock at what had just happened.

"Holy shit," Max said and Tony nodded in agreement as the news then showed the president addressing the threat of this Mandarin.

" _Central to my Administration's response to this terrorist event, is a newly minted resource. I know him as Colonel James Rhodes, the American people will soon know him as the Iron Patriot_ ," the president said on TV and then showed War Machine coming into view, but his suit was now red, white and blue.

"What the hell?," Tony said. "What has he done with my suit?"

"Technically, it's his suit considering the fact that you gave it to him."

"For the last time, he took it."

"You let him take it," Max countered. "Anyway, are we gonna make fun of Uncle Rhodey's new name anytime soon?"

"Hahaha... sounds like a plan. I was gonna go meet him for lunch tomorrow. you can come with me if you'd like."

"Sounds good. I'm gonna go to bed now. _Promise_ me that you'll do the same."

"...I'll try," Tony said.

"I'll take it," Max said and walked back upstairs. "Goodnight, Iron Man."

"Goodnight, Arc. Damn, why didn't I think of that name for myself?"

"Because you were busy being thrown around by Stane, Vanko at the time. Also whatever you were doing when I was in Wakanda."

Max then went back to his room and laid down on his bed as he began to text Shuri.

"Hey, how's your day going?"

" _Alright so far. You?_ ," Shuri answered.

"The usual. Doing research on my theory on the Tesseract. Helping my mom move in completely into the house after about four years of her and Dad being back together officially. But mostly, I'm worried about my dad."

" _Is he dying again?_ "

"Thankfully no," he answered. "I installed a biomonitor into his reactor when he was asleep when I first got back. So no more secrets on that part cause I'll know then. Anyway it's worse than that. I think he might have PTSD."

" _Hmm... it would make sense, considering the fact that he had a near-death experience in New York. What's happened that makes you think that?_ "

"It's been the little things really. As of now, he's been awake for three days straight. Then as I explained to him my theory to him, he freaked out a had a panic attack."

" _You should tell your mother. Maybe he'll listen to you both_ ," Shuri suggested. " _But if what you say is true, I recommend professional help_."

"I agree. Now, I gotta get some sleep. I, myself, have been losing track of time and have stayed awake for at least a day. Goodnight, Shuri, or good morning for you."

" _Goodnight, Max._ "

The next day, Tony and Max met up with Rhodey at a local restaurant.

"Hey, Tony. Hey, Max!!," Rhodey exclaimed and got up to hug Max, who immediately returned it. "Have seen you in so long."

"Yeah. Guess we've both been busy," Max said and Rhodey nodded in agreement as they sat down. "Speaking of which... _Iron Patriot_?"

"Oh... God. It tested well with focus groups, alright?"

"I am Iron Patriot...," Tony said in a mocking voice. "It sucks."

"Listen, War Machine was a little too aggressive, alright? This sends a better message."

"War Machine sounds more badass."

"Agree 100% on that one, buddy. So, what's reall goin' on? With Mandarin? Seriously, can we talk about this guy?"

"You know you can trust us, Uncle Rhodey," Max said and they moved closer to him.

"It's classified information, guys," Iron Patriot said. "Okay, there have been nine bombings."

"Nine?"

"The public only knows about three. Here's the thing, nobody can ID a device. There's no bomb casings."

"They must've found something," Max said.

"Yeah. Silhouettes on the walls of the people closest to the blast. At least within several meters from it."

"Silhouettes? That would mean the explosion reached a temperature of at least 3000C. They would have to have been vaporized instantly for that to happen though. If that's true, then you're dealing with some pretty heavy stuff."

"You know we can help, just ask," Tony offered. "I got a ton of new tech, I got a prehensile, I got a...I got a new bomb disposal. Catches explosions mid-air."

"When's the last time he got a good night's sleep, Max?," Rhodey asked.

"Three days ago," Max answered.

"Three days?!"

"Einstein slept three hours a year. Look what he did?"

"People are concerned about you, Tony. I'm concerned about you."

"So am I, Dad. He had a panic attack last night," Max informed his uncle as his father tried to stop him. "I think he might have PTSD."

"Are you kidding me? You're both gonna come at me like that?"

"No. No, look, I'm not trying to be a dic-," Rhodey said then Max gestured him to change what he was saying as some kids had come up to them. "-tator."

"Do you mind signing my drawing?," the older kid asked.

"If Richard doesn't mind," Tony said, mocking his best friend. "You alright with this, Dick?"

"Fine with me. What about you, Arc?"

"Not a problem."

"You're an Avenger too, right?," the kid asked.

"Yup. I'm

the fast one," Max answered as she handed the drawing to Tony.

"Okay, what's your name?"

"Erin."

He nodded and then saw the boy next to him.

"I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way," he joked as the kid actually did look a lot like Ralphie.

"Hey, Erin," Max said, getting her attention. "While he's signing your drawing, could you help us with something?"

"Sure."

"What sounds cooler? War Machine or Iron Patriot?"

"War Machine, definitely," she said and the boy next to her nodded in agreement as Max turned to Rhodey.

"There, see? They get it. Thank you," he said and Rhodey just rolled his eyes and turned to Tony.

"Iron Patriot sounds like Captain America with an Iron Man suit."

"...Yeah, it actually does. I've gotta talk to him about that," he said, talking to himself.

"Listen, the Pentagon is scared," Rhodey said as Tony continued to sign the drawing and listened to Rhodey. "After what happened in New York... aliens, come on. They need to look strong. Stopping the Mandarin is priority, but it's not..."

"It's superhero business, I get it."

"No, it's not, quite frankly. It's American business."

"That's why I said I...got it," Tony began to say but then he began to look ill and broke the crayon, and Max knew what was about to happen.

"Are you okay?"

"I broke the crayon."

"It's alright, Dad. Just breathe," Max said, trying to get him to calm down.

"Are you okay, Mr. Stark?," Erin asked.

"Take it easy. Tony...," Rhodey said and everything faded into silence for Tony, that is until the boy whispered into his ear.

"How did you get out of the wormhole?," he asked and suddenly Tony rises and starts walking off.

"Wait a minute! Tony!," Rhodey yelled and got up too.

"Is he okay, Mr. Arc?"

"Yeah, he's okay," Max assured them. "My Dad is just going through some things, neither of you did anything wrong. How about I finish up what he was doing, huh?"

She smiled and nodded and he walked back over to the table.

"Hey, watch this."

He then used his speed to finish what his father was writing and then wrote 'You are also one Earth's Mightiest Heroes.' He then handed it back to the kids and they thanked him and Max paid the bill and ran out to find only his uncle there.

"Where'd Dad go?," Max asked.

"I don't know, he just flew off," he answered. "What's going on with him? You said he had a panic attack last night?"

"That's right. Let's talk about this somewhere else. Don't worry, I already paid."

The two then began to walk through the city.

"I've only begun to notice what's been going on, sadly. I've been busy as well, though not as much as Dad."

"What do you mean?"

"He's gone from Mark VII to Mark 42 in the past few months. Like I said, I think he has PTSD. I told Shuri about it and she said I should tell Mom _and_ get him professional help."

"I think so too. It's likely from almost dying in New York. Let's avoid saying New York for a little while as it seems to be a trigger word for an attack."

"See this often?," Max asked.

"Too often sadly. This is a bad case. Keep an eye on him," Rhodey said. "I gotta get going now."

"Me too. I'll head to Stark Industries and tell Mom now."

He nodded and Max sped off towards Stark Industries, where he then saw Happy doing his new job as Head of Security, though rather too seriously as he was repeatedly reminding the staff to wear badges among other things.

"Hey, if it isn't the Bighead of Security," Max said and got Happy's attention.

"Oh, hey kid," Happy said. "Hate to do this to you, but... badge?"

"Wouldn't that suffice?"

He points to behind him and there was portraits of Howard, Tony and himself there, along with one of Pepper as well.

"Oh, yeah. Okay. Why is your portrait even there? You've never been CEO of Stark Industries."

"I had it made and placed here in case of a situation like this so don't have to wear a badge. Where's my mom?"

"She should be coming out here soon."

As if on cue, Pepper immediately walked out into their view.

"Hey, Mom."

"Oh, hey Max!," Pepper said, walking up to them. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you. It's about Dad."

"...Okay then. But first I have one last person to meet then we can on the way home."

"Okay," he said as Happy walked over to an employee. "So how's he been doing as Head of Security?"

"While I'm thrilled he has the job as it's perfect position for him, let us just say that our staff complaints have increased by three hundred percent."

"Three hundred?? Okay, either someone is hiding something or Happy is doing his job a little too well."

"Probably the latter," Pepper said and her son nodded in agreement as she walked to her office.

"Listen, Mom, Dad and I were at a restaurant with Uncle Rhodey-."

"I'm sorry, Max, but we have to talk about this later. Right now I have to go deal with this very annoying thing."

"What do you mean?," Max asked as Happy came up behind them.

"I used to work with this guy, and he used to ask me out _all_ the time. So it's a little awkward."

"Yeesh, doesn't sound good."

He opens the door for her to find a man in a light colored business suit, about five feet ten inches tall. He had long dirty blond hair that was combed back and he looked to Pepper with a confident smirk on his face. Immediately, Max knew who he was.

"Pepper," the man said.

"Killian?," she said, shocked as he looked a lot different than when she last saw him.

"You look great. You look really great."

"God, you look... you look great. I-I-I can't... What on earth have you been doing?"

"Nothing fancy, just five years in the hands of physical therapists. And please, call me Aldrich," he said, then looked to Max. "And you must be Maxwell Stark. Aldrich Killian."

"Yes, I know. You're head of Advanced Idea Mechanics, or AIM," Max said.

"That's right. Always nice to have at least a little recognition. So, this is your son, huh Pepper?"

"Uh...you were supposed to be issued a security badge," Happy pitched in and then Pepper gently pushed him and her son out.

"Yes, he is my son. It's okay, Happy. Just... both of you wait outside," she said before closing the door and Max and Happy sat at a nearby bench. "It's very nice to see you, Killian."

Near them was a bald guy they had never seen before and Max could only guess that he was with Killian.

"Hey, guy," Happy said and the man looked to them and he pointed to his badge. The man then showed his badge was right next to him and Happy seemed content with it, though he still watched him with suspicion.

"So, what did you want to talk your mom about?"

"About Dad. He's been scaring me recently. New York affected him more than he's letting on, then again it affected me quite a lot too."

"I'd be concerned if it didn't, buddy," Happy said and then saw Aldrich activate a hologram of a brain and quickly read his credentials. "You know I've seen that guy before."

"Oh, yeah? Where?," Max said as Happy's tablet went off and they saw it was Tony.

"Hello?," Happy said with the tablet a little too high and only showed his forehead and eyes.

" _Is this Forehead of Security?_ ," Tony joker and he lowered the screen.

"What? You know, look, I got a real job. What do you want? I'm working, I got something going on here."

" _What? Harassing interns?_ "

"And taking care of Mom when you're not around," Max added.

" _Oh hey, Max._ "

"Feeling better?"

" _Yup. I'm good now._ "

"Well I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better from whatever was wrong with you, but moving on. Do you know what happened when I told people I was Iron Man's bodyguard? They would laugh in my face."

This just caused both Max and Tony to laugh a little.

"I had to leave while I still had a shred of dignity. Now I got a real job, I'm watching Pepper."

" _What's going on? Fill me in._ "

"Well, based on what limited lip reading I know, this guy by the name of Aldrich Killian is showing Mom something of a new program called EXTREMIS. Some sort of program to upgrade the brain and improve the body. Recode the DNA."

" _Hmm... sounds familiar for some reason_ ," he said.

"Yeah, I couldn't make his face at first, right? You know I'm good with faces," Happy said.

"Oh, Yeah, yeah. You're the best," both Max and Tony said.

"Yeah. Well, so I ran his credentials, I made him. Aldrich Killian, like Max said. We actually met the guy back in... where were we in '99? The science conference?"

" _Um...Switzerland._ _Killian? No, I don't remember that guy._ "

"Of course you don't. He's not a blond with a big rack. At first it was fine, they were talking business, apparently about that EXTREMIS thing, but now it's like getting weird. He's showing her a big brain."

" _His what?"_

"Big brain, and she likes it. Here, let me show you. Hold on. See?," he said and held up his tablet but all Tony saw was him looking at Pepper and Aldrich.

" _Look at what? You watching them? Flip the screen and then we can get started_ ," Tony instructed.

"I'm not a tech genius like you."

Max then took the tablet from his friend and flipped the screen for him and gave it back to him.

" _Ohh... a hologram. Interesting._ "

"Yeah, okay. Now, I don't trust this guy. He's got another guy with him, he's shifty."

" _Relax. Just_ _secure the perimeter. Tell him to go out for a drink or something?_ "

"You should take more of an interest in what's going on here. This woman's the best thing that ever happened to you, and you... you're just ignoring her."

"Do you ladies need a moment?," Max joked and happy repeated what he did before and now both he and Tony looked at him with annoyed looks.

"...Anyway, I'm gonna follow this shifty guy. I'm gonna run his plates and if it gets rough, so be it."

" _I miss you, Happy,_ " Tony said.

"Yeah, I miss you too," Happy said. "But the way it used to be. Now you're off with the 'superfriends', I don't know what's going on with you anymore. The world's getting weird..."

" _Hey, I... I'd hate to cut you off. Do you have your taser on you?_ "

"Why?"

" _I think there's a girl in HR who's trying to steal some printer ink, you should... probably go over there and... zap her._ "

"Yeah, nice," he said then he hung up when he saw Tony had left his phone in a wine cooler.

A little while later, Pepper and Killian came out, though Killian seemed a little disappointed.

"Well, I can't say that I'm not disappointed," he said as they walked out of the building. "But then as my father used to say, 'Failure is the fog through which we glimpse triumph.'"

"That's very deep," she said back. "And I have no idea what it means."

"Well, me neither. He was kind of an idiot, my old man. I'm sure I'll see you again, Pepper."

Aldrich then did something Max did not expect, he kissed his mother on the cheek before walking over to his car and began to leave. Pepper then saw her son and Happy behind her.

"Oh, hey guys..."

"The car is ready, if you're ready to go," Happy said and Pepper takes another glance at Aldrich as he got into his car.

"Yes. I just um... God, I forgot my other thing, so I'm just gonna..."

She walked back into the building, and Happy took a glance over at Aldrich's car as it drove away. He quickly took a photo of the license plate.

"Be careful, Happy," Max said and he went over to Pepper's car.

Pepper later came out and got in the car and they were soon on their way home.

"So, what was it about your father that you wanted to talk about?," Pepper asked.

"He's been having panic attacks. And no doubt you've noticed the sleepless nights, right?"

"...Yeah, I have. Is it about New York?"

"Not a doubt in my mind. Also that seems to be a trigger for attacks so let's avoid saying New York unless he says it."

"Okay. And what about you? I've noticed your sleepless nights as well."

"That's mostly because I'm researching something on the Tesseract," he answered and she accepted this answer, though she did want to have some fun.

"Are you sure it's not because you talk to Shuri all night?," she teased and Max just went red in the face. "Hahaha!! I'm just messing with you. Anyway, I'll be home for the next few weeks now, for Christmas."

He nodded as they got home to find the most unexpected thing ever. A gigantic stuffed rabbit at the front porch that had a tag on it saying that it was for Pepper.

"...Okay...," Max said, unsure of what to think of the rabbit.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I was... What the...? What is that?!," Pepper exclaimed when she saw Tony in his newest suit, sitting on the couch. "You're wearing this in the house now? What is that, like Mark 15?"

"Uh...yeah. Something like that," Tony said, looking at his arm that said MK42. "You know everybody needs a hobby."

"Okay, while you discuss your hobbies, I'm gonna go in my room," Max informed them then he looked to his mother and mouthed something. "Talk to him."

She nodded and he sped back into his room and got back to work. Only thing wrong was that he just couldn't focus at the moment. All he could think about... was the Mandarin.

"Oh... damn it. JARVIS, bring up everything that SHIELD, the FBI and the CIA have on the Mandarin."

'Very well, sir,' JARVIS said and did so. 'Upload complete. Showing a map of the United States depicting where the Mandarin has attacked.'

Like he said, a map appeared and Max began studying it all. Then his phone went off and it showed to be Shuri messaging him.

" _Hey, have you heard about this Mandarin?_ ," she asked.

"Yup. My Uncle Rhodey is looking for him now. I'm doing my own research on him right now."

" _Be careful. Not even Wakanda can find much information on him._ "

"Don't worry. I'm always careful."

" _...Seriously??_ "

"Yeah. Why do you think I'm still alive?," he said back.

" _...You scare me sometimes_ ," she said and logged off.

Max began to work through the night. That is until he began to hear his father making noises in his sleep. He got rid of everything and quickly moved towards his parents' room. He arrived just as Pepper was attempting to awaken Tony. Then the Mark 42 appeared out of nowhere and pushed Pepper off of Tony as if she was a threat to its creator. Max quickly sped over and got between it and his parents.

"Power down!!," he ordered and it did so.

Once this was done, he pushed it and it fell in pieces on the floor. He quickly turned back to his parents, Tony now being awake and both seemed quite startled by what happened.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Your father was having a nightmare," Peppr explained. "I was trying to wake him up but then that thing attacked me."

"I must have called it in my sleep," Tony said, breathing hard. That's not supposed to happen. I'll recalibrate the sensors. Can we just...just let me...just let me catch my breath, okay?"

As he was talking, Pepper grabbed her pillow and a blanket and began walk out.

"Don't go, alright? Pepper?"

"I'm going to sleep downstairs. Tinker with that."

She went downstairs and Max looked back at his father.

"Guess it's a good thing I used my speed to make those implants and was able to code the suit to respond to my orders as well," Max said and sat next to him on the bed. "...New York?"

"...Yeah," he answered. "It's New York every tim I sleep. Pathetic huh?"

"No... not pathetic. Human. Try to get some more sleep. Just try. I'm gonna go check on Mom."

Max got up and sped downstairs to see his mother in the kitchen, getting some water.

"You okay, Mom?"

"Yeah...," Pepper said. "Just shaken up is all. You and Rhodey are right though. Something is wrong with your father. How many has he made?"

"How many suits?," he asked and she nodded. "...He's currently on Mark 42."

"Mark 42?! He was on 7 a few months ago!!"

"I'm just upset I didn't see it sooner. But don't worry, I'm gonna find him some help after the holiday season is over."

"Okay, that makes feel a little bit better. Why don't we both get some sleep?"

"Alright. Goodnight, Mom."

"Night," she said and he sped back upstairs and decided ti get some sleep.

The next morning however, Max was awoken by his parents.

"W-What is it?," he asked groggily.

"...It's Happy," Tony said in a way that made Max wake up immediately.

They all went downstairs and saw another Mandarin message. It first showed the Mandarin smashing several fortune cookies on a table in front of him.

" _True story about fortune cookies. They look Chinese, they sound Chinese, but they're actually an American invention. Which is why they're hollow, full of lies, and leave a bad taste in the mouth_ ," he said and it changed to footage of the Chinese Theater and then showed it up in flames. " _My disciples just destroyed another cheap American knock-off, The Chinese Theater._ "

It then changed back to the Mandarin and then to him greet a bunch of children.

" _Mr. President, I know this must be getting frustrating, but this season of terror is drawing to a close._ "

Once again, it changed to him shooting at a picture of President Ellis between his eyes and instructing his soldiers to do the same.

" _And don't worry, the big one is coming... your graduation._ "

The footage was then cut and went back to the regular news.

"We just found out that Happy was there at the time of the explosion," Pepper explained. "He's at the hospital right now."

Max however barely registered what was being said though, as his anger was now reaching new levels.

Tony and his son went to hospital and found Happy there as he laid in a bed, critically injured and in a coma. They sat in the room for sometime until a nurse came in to check on their friend.

"Hi," Tony said, startling her a little. "Uh...mind leaving that on?"

"Sure," she said as she knew he was referring to the tv, which had Downton Abbey playing at the moment.

The two got up from their seats and Tony stopped for a moment, but Max continued to walk out, but not before looking back at Happy.

"I'll find who this to you, Happy," Max said mostly to himself as he walked out of the hospital, his father not far behind, with the press ready to hound them.

"We're awaiting the arrival of Tony Stark and his son, Maxwell Stark. We're hoping they'll give us the reaction... _their_ reaction to the latest attack," a news reporter said as Max came out and the press immediately attacked him with questions.

Tony walks out as well and started to lead his son back to their car. That is until one reporter asked something that made Max stop.

"Hey, Mr. Stark? Max? When is somebody gonna kill this guy? Just sayin'," a reporter asked as he held his cellphone up and Max turned to him with pissed off look on his face.

"Is that what you want?!," Max said and Tony looked at his son. "...Here's a little holiday greeting I've been wanting to send to the Mandarin. Just didn't know how to say it nor did I have a real reason to until now. My name... is Maxwell Stark and I'm not afraid of you. And guess what... you are a coward. Want to know something else? You just died, I just need to get the body. There's no politics in this; it's just good old-fashioned revenge!! There's no Pentagon; it's just _you_ and _me_!!! And on the off-chance you're a man, this is my home address: 10880, Malibu Point. 90265. I'll leave the door unlocked. That's what you wanted, right?"

Max then grabbed the phone from the guy and threw it against the wall as Tony grabbed his son and put him in the car.

"Bill me," Tony said as he quickly got in the car and they drove off. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!!"

"The Mandarin almost killed Happy!!! I knew he was gonna follow that one guy from yesterday, and he was there because of that. And I wasn't there to help him!!! This is the least I can do."

"...You just put your whole family in danger."

Max barely listened to the rest of the lecture and soon enough, Max was back home and went down to the shop and he and JARVIS began to review the Chinese Theater crime scene.

'I've compiled a Mandarin database for you, sir. Drawn from S.H.I.E.L.D., F.B.I., and C.I.A. intercepts,' JARVIS said and holograms began to form around him. 'Initiating virtual crime scene reconstruction.'

"Alright, let's see what we know. His name is an ancient Chinese war mantle, meaning 'adviser to the King'. South American insurgency tactics, talks like a Baptist preacher. There's a lot of pageantry going on here... a lot of theater. Alright, close this."

'The heat from the blast was in excess of 3000 degrees Celsius. Any subjects within 12.5 yards were vaporized instantly.'

Holograms of the blast was projected and showed people being vaporized into shadows on the walls.

"No bomb parts found in a three mile radius of the Chinese theater?"

'No, Max.'

"...Talk to me, Happy," Max said and a hologram of Happy appeared, pointing to something. Max looked to see a fragment of the crime scene and he went over to see what was under the rubble. "When is a bomb not a bomb?"

He begins to remove the layers to find dog tags.

"Any military victims?"

'Not according to public records, sir,' JARVIS answered.

"Bring up thermogenic signatures across the US, factor in three thousand degrees."

A map of the US appeared and lines appeared vertically at different heights.

'The oracle cloud has completed analysis. Accessing satellites and plotting the last twelve months of thermogenic occurrence now.'

"Okay, now take away everywhere that there's been a Mandarin attack," Max said and the AI did so and he began to look at the few remaining heat signatures until he came across one that was in Tennessee. "What about that one? Are you sure that's not one of his?"

'It predates any known Mandarin attack. The incident was the use of a bomb to assist a suicide. The heat signature is remarkably similar. Three thousand degrees Celsius.'

The info on the combing indicated the bomber was also military.

"Two military guys. Ever been to Tennessee, Jarvis?"

'Creating a flight plan for Tennessee," JARVIS said and the virtual images were then gone and then the doorbell rang and a face message from Tony appeared.

" _Are we still at 'ding-dong?',_ " Tony asked, still upset along with Pepper. " _We're supposed to be on total security lock down!!_ "

"Yeah, come on, I threatened a terrorist today, JARVIS!!!"

'There's only so much I can do, sir, when you give the world's press your home address.'

Tony got into the Mark 42 and met up with their guest, a woman he hadn't seen for a while.

"Right there's fine," Tony said as she was being scanned and took a good long look at her and then lifted the faceplate. "...You're not the Mandarin, are you? Are you?"

"...You don't remember," she concluded. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Don't take it personally, he doesn't remember what he has for breakfast," Max said, speeding upstairs.

'Gluten-free waffles, sir,' JARVIS reminded.

"That's right."

"Okay, look, I need to be alone with you. Someplace not here, it's urgent."

"Normally, I'd go for that sort of thing, but now I'm in a committed relationship," he said as they walked further inside and then packed bags fell to the floor. "...With her."

"Good timing, huh?," Max commented and the woman nodded slightly in agreement.

"Tony, is somebody there?," Pepper asked as he walked out of his suit.

"Yeah, it's Maya Hansen. Old botanist pal that I used to know, barely," Tony answered and walked closer to her and said something quietly. "Please don't tell me that there is a twelve year-old kid waiting in the car that I've never met."

"He's thirteen," she answered and he gasped in fear. "No, I need your help."

"What for? Why now?"

"Because I read the papers, and, frankly, I don't think you or your son will last the week."

"We'll be fine," Max said as Pepper came up to them.

"I'm sorry. With Happy in the hospital, I didn't know we were expecting guests. And old girlfriends."

"We weren't."

"Yeah, it... it was just one night."

"I wish you'd not talk about this stuff around me," Max complained.

"Well, let me tell you now... you have saved yourself a world of pain. Trust me," Pepper said and she turned to her son. We're going out of town.

"No way. I'm waiting for him to come to me."

"Nope!! We're leaving immediately and indefinitely!!," Tony exclaimed.

"Great idea. Let's go. I'll...," Maya said and was about to grab the bags.

Max beat her to it and got them all in the car and ran back to them.

"Better idea. You all get to somewhere safe and I stay here."

"Oh no, no, no... you are coming with us. We're all leaving!! That isn't even up for discussion!!"

"I said no!!!"

"Guys, can we um..."

"What?," Tony asked.

"Do we need to worry about that?," Maya said as she pointed to the tv where the news showed a missile coming towards them.

It then blew up and everything slowed down around Max. He avoided flying debris and grabbed his parents and Maya and got them into a car and pushed it far away. He ran back and got himself in the Mark 42.

"Guys, get out of here now!!! I'll keep them busy!!," Max said into his coms.

" _Max, don't do this!!_ ," Tony yelled.

"I'm already doing it. And I'm doing to save you all from my dumbass mistake. NOW GO!!!"

Reluctantly, they drove off a little further so that the three helicopters that were attacking the house did not see them.

"Jarvis, where's the flight power?!"

'Working on it, Max. This suit is a prototype,' JARVIS answered and Max slipped and began he piano slid past him.

He quickly stood up and threw it at one chopper, causing it to crash and blow up. Then he forcefully pulled out a missile out of one of the suits arms and threw it at the second chopper, only this time it came crashing into the house. This caused already falling floor to collapse completely and max recovered just in time to see the first seven Iron Man suits blow up in front of him. Meanwhile, Tony, Pepper and Maya were then on their way back as the final helicopter left and the main floor fell off the cliff and into the waters. Max attempted to stop it but then metal wires pulled him down into the abyss with it, the giant stuffed bunny landed near him.

Tony and Pepper quickly ran to the edge of what was left of the house and looked down, but they did not see their son.

"MAX!!!!!," they both yelled.

Water began to fill the suit and Max knew that he wouldn't make it if he did get out fast. However, since he was underwater, he couldn't phase out as the water would slow down his movements and he would get to the surface in time.

'Sir, take a deep breath,' JARVIS said and the right arm of the suit came off, turned around and pulled him out of the rubble he was under and quickly went back into his arm as the suit's flight system came back online. 'Flight power restored.'

When no one was watching, Max inside the Mark 42 suit flew off and headed east.

"Thank you, JARVIS," Max said, barely able to keep himself awake. "...I owe you one."

'You are most welcome, Max, sir. Now rest, and I'll fly us out of here.'

"Okay... no argument here. Oh, boy..."

It was at this point that Max was then rendered unconscious from exhaustion and shock. Max's next adventure had begun again.

 **Hope you liked this. Yes, Max will take Tony's place in much of this story. He'll be using iron Man suits mainly in this, at least until the final fight. Hope you like what I do. Until the next chapter is up, see y later.**


	17. On the Run

**Iron Man 3 part 2.**

 **I own only my original characters, nothing else. Credit for the idea of this story belongs to sketchywolf**

'...Max!!,' JARVIS said as Max woke up. 'MAX!!!'

"Yeah, yeah... I'm up," Max said, waking up. "I'm up. Turn off the alarm."

'That's the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below five percent.'

Max woke up completely when he remembered what had happened and noticed that they were beginning to descend over a road. They almost crashed straight into a car, but they hit the road and continued to crash through the nearby forest and went through several trees before finally stopping in the middle of the forest. Max quickly rolled over face up and removed the faceplate to see that they were in much colder parts.

"It's snowing. Where are we?"

'We're five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee.'

"...What?!! JARVIS, what the hell?!! We're thousands of miles away from Malibu!! What about Mom and Dad?! And that one woman who's name I forget?!"

'I prepared a flight plan. This was the location,' JARVIS answered. 'Also, Mr. Stark, Miss Potts and Miss Hansen are all quite alright, thanks to you.'

"Oh thank God!!," Max exclaimed quietly to himself. "What about you, JARVIS? You gonna make it?"

'I don't think so. I... I think I may b-be malfunctioning, Max.'

Max quickly phased himself out of the suit and quickly felt the cold, winter temperatures.

"Oh boy. Okay, this isn't so bad. Could be Alaska. Alright, JARVIS, you go to sleep now and _I_ will get us there."

'Okay. I think I need to sleep now anyway, sir,' the AI said as he shutdown due to low power.

"You get some rest, buddy. You've earned it," Max said and he got up and placed the face plate back on and picked him up and dragged the suit behind him as he walked towards Rose Hill.

Slowly, he walked towards the town, enduring the cold. Thanks to his heightened abilities and strength, the cold barely bothered him. He soon came across a gas station and went over to the payphone and immediately knew who to call.

'Stark Secure Server: Now transferring to all known receivers,' a voice on a computer said.

"Mom... Dad... it's me. It's Max," he began. "I'm alive, obviously. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again. Also, I'm sorry again for hiding my abilities from you. I know I've said it before and that you said that you've forgiven me, but still... I'm sorry. And I'm also sorry in advance because... I can't come home yet. I need to find this guy. You both gotta stay safe. That's all I know. Dad, I'll take good care of the Mark 42, hopefully I'll be back with you guys soon. Find my suit and I'll meet up with you at some point in the future, and we'll trade. Tell Shuri I'm sorry for almost dying. I love you both, bye."

Max soon reached a house that seemed empty from the outside. He kicked the door to the garage open and placed the suit on the couch in the garage. He then had a look around to see that it was the beginning of an engineer's workshop. He got the suit comfy before he sat at the desk and began to quickly tinker at his implants. But then a new, young voice began yelling.

"Freeze!! Don't... move," the new voice yelled.

Max put his hands as he looked back up to see a boy, a few years younger than himself standing at the doorway with a potato gun in hand.

"Easy, kid," Max said and quickly sped towards him and took the potato gun from him and placed it in the desk. He then turned to see the kid with a shocked look on his face.

"Whoa... you're Arc, aren't you?"

"That I am. You can call me Max though."

"I can also call you dead," the kid said and handed him a newspaper that said that he was dead.

"Huh... maybe I can use that to my advantage," max said to himself as the kid saw the Iron Man suit.

"Oh my God!! Is that... is that Iron Man?"

"Sorry, it's just the suit. The latest one, that is. My dad and I got separated during the attack at my house yesterday."

"You live in California, right?," he asked as he began to look at the suit and Max nodded. "How are you here in Tennessee?"

"He flew me all the way here."

"What happened to him?"

"Life. JARVIS used up all the power the suit had to fly me here," Max answered.

"Who's JARVIS?"

"The AI my Dad made before I was born. He ran my house and is uploaded into each other Iron Man suits. Thankfully, I can fix him."

"Like a mechanic?"

"Precisely like a mechanic. So, what might your name be?"

"Harley Keener," the boy answered and Max offered a hand.

"Maxwell Stark," he said Harley shook his hand. "Hey, if I was building Iron Man and War Machine-."

"It's Iron Patriot now."

"That's way cooler!!"

"I don't think so, but that's okay if you do. Anyway, you were saying?"

"I would have added in um... the retro..."

"Retro-reflective panels?," Max guessed and the kid nodded.

"Yeah, to make him stealth mode."

"Stealth mode... I like the sound of that. Gotta talk to a guy about that."

Then Harley accidentally removed one of the suits fingers.

"Ooh..."

"Sorry," Harley said.

"It's alright. Nothing that can't be fixed."

"Can't you just shoot lightning or something at the suit, like Thor?"

"Huh... never thought of something like that. I might try that one time, but I'm pretty tired right now. Anyway, your parents home?"

"Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers," he answered. "I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago."

"Hmm... sorry to hear about that. I really am," Max said. "Listen, I need your help. Here's what I need: a laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, some good batteries, your best electromagnet and some food because I am starved."

"Heightened metabolism? Side effect from your powers?"

"...Yeah, exactly. You're a smart kid, though I already knew that given the design of your potato gun."

"Thanks," Harley said. "Anyway, what's in it for me if I help you?"

"...What's his name?"

"Who?"

"The jerk who bullies you."

"...How'd you know about that?"

"Clothes seemed a little roughed up and not from being worn out by the elements and you have a slight mark on your face," Max explain and he then got out something from the back of the suit, a small device and he gave it to Harley. "That's a flash grenade. Point it away from your face and it'll discourage bullying. Won't harm anyone, but it can cover your ass. Deal?"

"Deal. And thank you," Harley said and Max nodded as he sat down. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to eat?"

"Nah... whatever you may have is fine. Also, does your mom have any old phones she doesn't use anymore?"

"Yeah."

"Can you text message on them?"

"Some. Why?"

"Gotta message a friend. Let her know that I'm alive."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Haha... nope," Max answered. "But she is my best friend and she might help us. We can be a team, I guess you could say. Like the Avengers."

"Awesome!!"

"Ha..."

Back at Tony's house, which is now surrounded by emergency rescue and news reporters, Pepper and Tony stood alone in the aftermath of the attack on their home.

"I should've been there...," Tony said.

"...You know he would've never allowed it," Pepper said as she grabbed one of Tony's shattered Iron Man helmets. She then noticed a red flashing light inside the helmet and Tony noticed it too.

"It's received a message."

He puts it on and begins to play the message.

" _Mom... Dad... it's me. It's Max_ ,"he began and Tony sighed in relief at the sound of his son's voice and smiled. " _I'm alive, obviously. I've got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I'm so sorry I put you in harm's way. That was selfish and stupid and it won't happen again..._ "

He quickly took it off when the message ended and gave it to Peter after he reminded it. He quickly went back up to what was left of Max's room and quickly found a secret compartment with the Arc suit in it. He grabbed it and he, Pepper and Maya all drove off.

"...Why were you at the house tonight?," Pepper asked Maya. "What was so important that you had to speak to Tony?"

"...I think that my boss is working for the Mandarin," she answered and both of them look at her. "So if you two still want to talk about it, I suggest that we get ourselves someplace safe."

"Your boss works for the Mandarin, you think? But Tony said you're a botanist, so..."

"Yeah, well... she's both a botanist and not a botanist. That night is mostly a blur, but I do remember that there was something to do with a plant."

"That figures. What I actually am is a biological DNA coder running a team of forty out of a privately-funded think tank, but sure you can call me a botanist."

"Well, your boss man guy, does he have a name?," Tony asked.

"Yeah, you know him already. Aldrich Killian," Maya said and they once again look at her in shock.

"...We've got a lot of talking to do."

Back with Max, Harley led him into the town, making sure they were unnoticed.

"Alright, I'll be good with food for a little while.The spring was a little rusty but workable, if I tinker with the phone a little, it will be suitable and the rest of the materials, I'll make do. Also, not that I'm ungrateful or anything but... when you said your sister had a watch, I was kinda hoping for something a little more adult than this," Max said, lifting his sleeve to show a pink Dora the Explorer watch and Harley just laughed a little.

"She's six! Anyway, it's limited edition," he said as they reached the place where the bombing occurred. "When can we talk about New York?"

"Not at the moment."

"What about The Avengers, can you talk about them?"

"Later. Tell me about what happened here first," Max said as he walked around the crater. "Afterwards, I'll answer your questions."

"Okay. Well, I guess this guy named Chad Davis, used to live roundabouts, won a bunch of medals in the army. One day, folks said he went crazy and made, you know, a bomb. Then... he blew himself up. Right here."

"...Six people died, right? Including Davis?"

"Yeah," Harley confirmed as Max sat next to him.

"Six... yet there are only five shadows."

"Yeah, people said these shadows are like the mark of souls gone to Heaven. Except the bomb guy, he went to Hell on account of he didn't get a shadow. That's why there's only five."

"And what do _you_ believe?"

"...I don't know," he answered and Max accepted the answer with a nod. "...You know what this crater reminds me of?"

"Are you gonna tell me no matter what my answer is?," Max asked.

"Probably."

"Okay, what?"

"That giant wormhole, in um... in New York. Does it remind you?"

"...A little bit. Well, I promised to answer any questions you had, so... ask away."

"Okay. Are they coming back? The aliens?"

"It's possible. Probably not for a while, hopefully."

"What about the Avengers? What are they like?"

"My Dad is everything you hear about him, but the best father I could ever ask for. Captain America lives up to his legend in every way. Thor is like the big brother you never knew you had or wanted. Hawkeye is... a glorified archer."

This got a laugh out of the kid and Max joined in.

"And Hulk and Black Widow?"

"Hulk as Banner is a nice guy. While Hulk himself is useful in a fight, I find him hard to be friends with. Then again, my first encounter with him wasn't the most fun, so don't take my word for it. Black Widow is... awesome in every form of the word. She's like that sometimes scary big sister you always wanted."

"Haha... so how did you get your powers?"

"...That's a long story," Max answered. "In basic terms, I was exposed to arc reactor energy and it changed me and gave me access to something called the Cheetah Realm, which manipulates space and time. Its saved my life several times and gave me my speed. But don't go off exposing yourself to unstable energy, the Cheetah Realm _chose_ to save me."

"Why?," Harley asked.

"Isn't that the question of the decade?"

"One more question. How did you get those scars on your face?"

"...Back to business. Does this Chad guy have any family here?"

"...Yeah," he answered, a little disappointed that he didn't get an answer. "His mom is where she's always at."

"Bar?," Max guessed and the kid nodded in confirmation and pointed to a nearby bar.

"Bar."

"Great... that's gonna be difficult without drawing attention."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I'm only sixteen years old. Legally, you've gotta be at least eighteen to get into a bar, and there's no telling if they'll ask for an ID."

"Ah. Yeah, that does sound difficult. So what are you gonna do?"

"...There's always another way in," Max said and he began to walk towards the bar, but then bumped into a woman as he was attempting to hide his face. "Sorry. Oh, wait, you dropped something."

He picked up the item and handed it to the woman.

"Thank you," she said and he then got a good look at her, and saw that she had a scarred face.

"Seen some action?"

"Seems you have as well."

"Hm... good day."

He walks past her and around the corner of the bar and vanished. He then walked to the back of the bar and phased through the walls and into the kitchen. He then sped through it, causing disruption and knocking items over before phasing back through the walls and walked to the front again and saw Harley, giving him a thumbs up. Max turned to see that the staff had been called into the kitchen to help figure out what happened and clean up. Max nodded and quietly walked through the doors and saw Mrs. Davis sitting alone at a table.

"Mrs. Davis?," Max said, getting her attention. "May I sit here?"

"...Free country," she said and Max sat down across from her.

"I first wanted to offer my condolences for the loss of your son. I slightly understand the pain you must be going through, as I too have lost someone I considered family."

She said nothing to this but simply pulled out a file and slid it towards him.

"Look, kid, I brought your damn file. You take it and go. Whatever is in here, he wanted no part of it."

"...Hate to disappoint you, but I'm not the one you were supposed to meet," Max said and her eyes widened slightly. "Your boy did not kill himself. Of that I am positive. Neither is he a murderer, someone used him to kill people."

"What?"

"There's a good chance the Mandarin used him as a weapon."

"...If you're not the one who called, then who is?," she asked and a cellphone was slammed onto the table.

"That would be me," the same woman from before said and quickly slammed Max's face against the desk and cuffed him, but not before he grabbed Chad's dog tags.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's all this about? What the hell's going on here?," a man asked, walking up to them with a few others.

"It's called an arrest. Sheriff, is it?"

"Yes ma'am, it is. And you are?"

"Homeland Security," she answered and showed her badge as Max phased out of his cuffs quietly. "We good here?"

"No, we're not good. I need a little more information than that. Especially since you're arresting a boy who is clearly a minor."

As they had their discussion, Max gestures Mrs. Davis to hide the file under the table and she did. He then quickly ran off and phased through the nearby wall for everyone to see.

"What in the hell...?," the sheriff said.

"Shit," the woman said and then her hand began glowing and the badge became red hot.

Max then saw a ruckus beginning and then saw Harley.

"Kid, go and hide somewhere. Things are about to get dangerous."

"They already are."

The woman then grabbed Max by the neck and threw him a distance away, ignoring Harley.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd have kicked my ass before I even knew it," she taunted.

"Ah well, you know what they say... ladies first," Max said back.

He then saw the man he saw from Stark Industries get out of a car and this distracted him long enough for the woman to kick him through a window.

"You know what..."

He then sped into the kitchen of the building he was kicked into as Harley shot a potato at the other man. Max then prepped everything he needed for his plan to work as the woman came inside and he then kicked her back outside and into a nearby car, causing it to cave in under the pressure. She quickly got up but fell to her knees. Max then saw where she'd received injuries to began to glow and heat up, quickly healing her.

She got back up with an angry and annoyed look on her face and Max sped back to the building and into the storage room. As she walked through the kitchen, the heat she gave off sparked the gasoline spilled all over the floor to ignite and it began to burn her up, but she still kept coming.

Max then waited for her to come through.

"Yeesh, you walked right into this one. I've met hotter chicks than you," Max said, practically channeling his father as she slammed the door open with a smirk on her face and her body burned to a crisp but she was unaffected by it.

"That's all you got, Scarface?," she asked. "Cheap trick and a cheesy one-liner?"

"Lady... that could be the name of the Stark autobiography."

He then speeds out as she looked to see dog tags in the microwave with the gasoline on. A moment later, the entire building blew up and Max luckily survived due to his phasing abilities. He looked up once the smoke cleared to see the woman dead on some powerlines.

All of a sudden, a nearby water tower came down on him before he had time to react. Once he came to, he found his foot was stuck. He was about to phase through it when he heard Harley yelling and the man before sitting down in front of him with Harley struggling on his lap.

"Hey, kid. Been a little bit," the guy said. "Name's Savin, just so you know. Now what about you littler kid? What would you like for Christmas?"

"Max, I am so sorry!!," Harley said, knowing that he'd disobeyed Max, who told him to hide.

"Oh. No, no. I think he was trying to say is 'I want my goddamn file!!' And I want it now before you pull a fast one and I roast this kid's face off."

"Don't worry about, kid," Max assured him. "Harley... remember what I said about bullies?"

Harley nodded, understanding what he meant and pulled out the flash grenade and set it off in Savin's face, allowing him to escape.

"That's the thing with us smart guys," Max said and phased through the tower and sped towards Savin and used a homemade repulsor to shot him in the face up close, knocking him down with a smoking hole in his face. "We cover our asses."

Max quickly phased off the repulsor as it was melting onto his arm. He began to keep a low profile again as Harley walked up to him.

"Thanks for the help. Really."

"You're welcome."

Max then sped back to the bar and grabbed the file and phased into a car and began to hotwire it.

"Why are you taking a car when you have superspeed?," Harley asked.

"I can't read this file while running and I can't have people seeing a blue streak running around Tennessee," Max said and Harley then gave him the most smug look he'd ever seen anyone give him.

"Admit it, dude. You need me. We're connected."

"Hahaha... listen. As much as I would love to take you with me, I need someone to watch the Mark 42 suit, make sure it keeps on charging. You also have your mom and sister to take care of, and you can't do that if you die helping me with this."

He was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and looked back at the kid.

"Last year, I almost lost the most important person in my life because I didn't see the danger that was right in front of me. Then I lost three friends to Loki right before the Battle of New York six months ago, and I saw the danger coming at that point. I can't put a friend in danger when I don't have to, so sorry."

"So, you're just gonna leave? Like my dad?," Harley said, trying to guilt trip him.

"Uh, yeah. Pretty much. Unlike him, though, I'll come back. Also, I'm a master at guilt tripping, so that's not working on me."

"I'm cold," he said, pulling his coat closer to his face.

"I can tell," Max said in a mocking voice. "You wanna know how I can tell? Because we're connected."

He then drove off and Harley dropped the act.

"Worth a shot."

" _You honestly thought I'd leave you out of the loop?_ ," Max said from the comlink piece he had placed in Harley's ear when he wasn't looking and freaked him out. " _Don't worry, I still need your help besides babysitting the suit. Now, hold onto this earpiece, as it is a backup communication pls should my phone get lost. It's got near limited range so we're good there. Now, head on home before your family worries and we'll get to work._ "

"Okay then."

" _Get going, Iron Lad._ "

Max then began driving whilst looking over the file and quickly found a familiar acronym. He found AIM written all over the file, along with EXTREMIS. It was then that Max knew who he had to call and quickly got onto the phone.

" _Hello?_ ," Rhodey said.

"Hey, just so I know... should I be cautious if I meet a woman who is glowing a bright orange and begins to straddle me?"

" _Yeah, that's happened to me before, keep an eye out for that. Who is this?_ "

"It's Max, Uncle Rhodey," he answered and he could just tell that he was relieved to know that he was alive. "Sorry to scare you."

" _It's alright, kid. Do your parents know though?_ "

"Yeah, I sent them a message earlier tonight. Right before I met the guy who might've had a hand in injuring Happy."

" _You thinking this guy is connected to the Mandarin?_ "

"Not entirely sure just yet," he said. "But first, your suit's redesign, it was done by AIM, right?"

" _Yeah, why?_ ," Rhodey asked.

"I'll explain later. I'm gonna find a heavy duty satellite relay, so I'll need your login."

" _Same as its always been. Warmachine68._ "

"And password?"

" _Look, Max, I have to change it every time you and your father hack my login._ "

"Oh, please. This isn't the 1980's, no one says 'hack' anymore. Password please?"

" _...WARMACHINEROX. With an 'X,' all caps._ "

Max then heard someone laugh at the password and a gun then fixed on him, causing Max himself to laugh.

" _Yeah, yeah... I admit it. I think War Machine is better than Iron Patriot._ "

"Good boy," Max teased and he felt his uncle's annoyance through the phone.

" _Alright, moving on. Where are you, Max? Are you okay?_ ," Rhodey asked.

"I'm okay, but I can't tell you on open coms, not even a secure one. Just call my parents, check up on them for me please. Gotta go now as I'm driving."

" _Wait, you just turned sixteen, how do you know how to drive already?_ "

"I've known since I was eight. Anyway, I gotta go and get my ass handed to me through the phone by my best friend."

" _And secret love,_ " Rhodey added for him and it was now Arc's turn to be annoyed.

"...Yes... and secret love. ...Goodbye."

He then hung up and pulled over to tinker with his phone and quickly figured it out and began to text.

"Shuri, you there?," he asked and he received an answer almost immediately.

" _MAX!!!!!!! GLORY TO BAST, YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!!,_ " she message-yelled. " _What on Earth were you thinking?!!!! Threatening a dangerous terrorist?!! I thought you were dead!!!!_ "

"I'm sorry I worried you. I truly am, but I need your help right now. I'm gonna call you now."

" _...Alright._ "

He then called her and she immediately picked and started screaming into his ear. It went on for a few minutes before Max even dared to place the phone back over his ear.

"...Feel better now?," he asked.

" _Yes, much. Now, what did you need my help with?_ "

"I'm going after the Mandarin. And I need your help to locate him."

" _...Okay. What do you need?_ "

"At the moment, nothing. I'll let you know. First I need to break into AIM's database."

" _Alright, but you are to keep me posted_ every single _hour. Do I make myself clear?_ "

"...Yes, ma'am," Max answered fearfully.

Max then headed down to what looked like some sort of Christmas beauty pageant at a school with many news vans around. He quickly parked the car and got into a van and began to ready the satellite, but then saw it didn't have enough juice to suit his needs.

"Now the question is how I increase it without giving away myself as being alive and kicking?," he said to himself just as the owner of the van opened the door and saw him.

"Excuse me, young man. I don't know who you-," the guy said while he was on the phone, but was silenced when Max turned to look at him and gesture for him to be quiet. "...Mom, I've gotta go. Something magical is happening!!"

The guy began to freak out a little and Max was quick to move him inside and close the door.

"Tony Stark's son is in my van!!," he exclaimed quietly. "I knew you were still alive!!"

"Yeah, I've noticed. Hey, is there anyone else here with you? Cause the less people know, the better."

"Oh no. It's just us."

"Good. Maxwell Stark," he said and they shook hands, though the guy nervously held on.

"Gary..."

"No need to be nervous. I get this as much as my dad."

"Yeah. Well, I just gotta say... I'm your biggest fan. And your dad as well."

"I could tell from the hairstyle."

"Oh yeah," he said and took off his hat to show it. "I pretty much based my look off of your dad. Also... I don't want to make things awkward but I wanted to show you... BOOM!!"

He lifted hip his left sleeve to show a tattoo of Tony and Max.

"...A Hispanic Scott Baio and Logan Lerman," Max said, making Gary laugh a little. "...Oh wait, sorry, is that me and my dad?"

"Yeah, I had them do it off these dolls I made, so it's not like off of pictures-."

Max then grabbed him by the arms to get his attention.

"Listen, Gary, as nice as it is to meet a fan, which it really is... I think we both need to settle down. I need your help in saving the world. I'm trying to get into some hard-crypt data files, but there isn't enough juice."

"Okay."

"Now, I need you to get up on the roof and recalibrate the ISDNs and increase the power flow by 40%."

"Got it," Gary said.

"Max needs Gary."

"...And Gary needs Max."

"Okay then. We need to be stealthy about it," Max said and Gary immediately got to work.

After a few minutes, he knocked on the roof and Max knocked back in confirmation. He quick went to the NSC, the National Security Contractors, and used Rhodey's login. Immediately, he was granted access to the AIM database. He began to look through footage of test subjects for the EXTREMIS virus. First one was of Chad Davis, then one of the woman he fought earlier, who's name turned out to be Ellen Brandt. In one of the videos, it showed Aldrich Killian speaking to them about the dangers of EXTREMIS. Then it showed them all being administered the serum. While it was beginning to work for most, one began to glow uncontrollably and once everyone was out, a blinding explosion occurred and the feed went dead.

"...Bomb is not a bomb when it's a misfire," Max said to himself. "So, this stuff doesn't always work. Fault, but you were still able to sell it to the Mandarin."

Max thanked Gary and convinced him to give him his spare phone, and then left. He called Shuri and gave her a full explanation as what was happening then he called Harley.

"Harley, tell me what's happening. Give me a full report. Also, I'd like to sort of introduce you to my best friend, Shuri. Say hi, Shuri."

" _Hello, Harley,_ " she said.

" _Nice to meet you, kind of,_ " he said. " _Well, I'm still eating that candy you wanted me to get. Should keep eating it?_ "

" _You're seriously making him eat candy?_ "

"Didn't expect him to actually do it, but how many bowls have you had?"

" _Two or three,_ " he answered. " _But I can still see straight... sort of._ "

"Then you're fine. Put JARVIS on please."

" _So this is what you've been up to since you died? Almost getting roasted alive and making children eat sugary foods to keep them awake?_ "

"Yeah, it's been quite a ride," Max said. "JARVIS, talk to me, how are you doing?"

' _It's totally fine, Max,_ ' JARVIS said through the phone as Harley had placed it on the faceplate of the Mark 42. ' _I seem to do quite well for a stretch, and then at the end of a sentence, I say the wrong cranberry. But sir, you were right. Once I factored in available AIM downlink facilities that were sent to me by Shuri, I was able to pinpoint the Mandarin's broadcast signal._ '

"Okay then. No way will he be anywhere near the most likely locations. Still don't understand why my Uncle Rhodey hasn't figured that one out yet. So, this is just a wild guess but... Miami?"

' _You guesses correctly, sir_.'

"...Okay, kid, I'm gonna walk you through rebooting JARVIS's speech drive in a moment, but right now look at the screen and tell me where it actually is. Shuri, could you check your screen as well to confirm it?"

" _...It does say Miami,_ " Harley answered.

" _Same here_ ," Shuri said next.

"...Well, I did say it'd be the most unlikely spot," Max said. "Alright, I'll let my dad know of all the information I've found out about. How's it going with charging the Mark 42?"

" _Oh, um... it's not charging_."

" _Also, your parents have just vanished off the grid a few hours ago._ "

Instantly, Max hit the brakes hard and pulled over to the side of the road.

"I'm sorry, what?!!!!"

' _Actually, Max, the suit is_ _charging, but the power source is questionable. It may not be sufficient enough to successfully revitalize the Mark 42_ ,' JARVIS clarified.

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about...," Max said slowly. "But how the hell did my par-...? Oh, not me too..."

" _Max? Max, are you alright?_ ," Shuri asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just... having a panic attack of my own here."

He then opened the door and fell to his knees onto the ground.

" _Max? Max?!! Max, it's alright. Just breathe._ "

Max did what she told him, but he kept on freaking out. The stress of what was happening had become too much even for him, especially since he brought it down on them.

" _Um, Max? You're Arc aren't you?_ ," Harley asked.

"...Yeah," he answered.

" _You said so._ "

"Yeah. Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

" _Maybe you should just stop being careful and... start being yourself and run._ "

This made Max stop for a moment and think on the kid's words. After that moment was done, he slowly got up.

"...Yeah. Maybe you're right. Miami, huh?"

" _Yup. That's right._ "

" _Are you sure you're alright, Max?_ ," Shuri asked.

"Not even close to being positive if I am, but I'll take what I can get," he answered. "I'm gonna have to go out of contact for a little bit. Harley, you've done your part so thank you for that. Keep watching the suit, but be ready to open the doors when it's fully charged. Shuri, I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

He then hung up both phones and squished one, keeping one in order to keep in touch with Shuri.

Max grabbed everything he needed and then got into a runner's starting position. After a moment, he then sped off towards Florida.

After several hours, and a few rest stops, Max finally made it to Miami. He quickly found the Mandarin's mansion and dealt with the guards outside with ease. He then slowly walked inside so as to not attract unwanted attention, and he quickly saw that the place was a mess.

' _Like the aftermath of one of Dad's parties,_ ' he thought to himself. ' _A small one, that is._ '

He made his way further into the house, taking out a guard and taking his gun in the process. He soon got to the master bedroom that was surrounded by greenscreens and camera sets. He quietly walked over to the bed, which had a large lump in it. He pulled the sheets down to find two women there, then a toilet flush, which caused him to hide.

"Well...," a man said in a British accent. "I wouldn't go in there for twenty minutes."

The man was rather skinny-looking weasel, very tan, long beard, hair brushed back and in a tight knot. He wore pajamas and a bathrobe. As he started going on about fortune cookies, max stepped out and revealed himself.

"Hey, asshole!!," he said, pointing his gun at him, the man surrendering instantly by raising his hands.

"Bloody hell. Bloody hell."

"Don't you even think about moving."

"I'm not moving. You want something? Take it. Although, the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn't trust me with the real ones. Hey, young man... do you fancy either of the birds?"

"...You're not the Mandarin," Max said and cocked his gun and began threaten him, making him sit down. "WHERE IS HE?!!! WHERE'S THE MANDARIN?!!!"

"He-He's here, but he's not here. He's here, but he's not here. It's complicated, boy. It's complicated."

"Oh yeah? Then uncomplicate it. Ladies, into the bathroom right now. Do it."

He turned for a brief moment at them and the guy tried to crawl away and Max just shot the floor in front of him and scared him back into the seat he was in.

"My name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery."

"Okay, you're probably a decoy. Right?"

"What? Like an understudy? Absolutely not!!," he exclaimed and Max pointed his gun at his face. "Don't hurt the face!! I'm an actor."

"Fill your last moment of life with words," Max said.

"It's just a role. 'The Mandarin,' see, it's not real."

"Then how in the hell did you get here?"

"Well... I had a little problem with um... substances. And I ended up doing things, no two ways about it, mind you, in the street that a man shouldn't do."

"Moving onto the next part of the story now."

"And they approached me about the role and they knew about the drugs."

"Let me guess, they offered to give you more."

"Yes, that's right," he said. "They gave me things! They gave me this palace! They gave me plastic surgery! They gave me things..."

It was at that moment that Trevor had fallen asleep out of nowhere.

"Did you seriously just nod off?," Max says and kicked the man's feet, waking him up.

"Oh, and a lovely speedboat! The thing was that he needed someone to take credit for some accidental explosions."

"He?," Max said. "Killian?"

"Killian," he confirmed.

"...A custom-made terror threat."

"Yes, exactly. The pathology of a serial killer, the manipulation of Western iconography. 'Ready for... another lesson?' Blah blah blah!!"

"This has been nice to hear and all but I'm pressed for time," he said and pulled his gun up again. "I've got more questions for you to answer. Also, one of those _accidental_ explosions you took credit for put a friend of mine in a coma and he might not wake up. Not only that, your boss has kidnapped my parents. And you're going down still, along with Killian and all of AIM."

Trevor looked behind him and Max didn't have enough time to react as Savin shoved his face into a wall, knocking him out.

"Hurts doesn't it, you little shithead?," Savin said and looked up at the actor. "Okay, Trevor, what did you tell him?"

"...I didn't tell him anything," he lied.

"Really? You should've pressed the panic button."

"Well, I panicked, but then I handled it."

 **Hope you like this. Next chapter will be the rest of Iron Man 3 and then possibly the beginning of Thor 2, or at least setting it up for it. Until then, see ya later.**


	18. Desperation

**Iron Man 3 final part.**

 **I own only my original characters, nothing else.**

"So, he just stormed in, took down almost all of the guards in his way, and then proceeded to interrogate Trevor before you apprehended him?," Killian asked over the phone as he stood outside his office.

" _That's it in basic terms, yeah_ ," Savin answered.

"...Okay, I'll be down once I've concluded my business with this buyer here. Deal with it until then."

He then hung up and went back in and sat down at his desk.

"Apologies for that. Just an unexpected turn of events. Back to business, shall we?"

"Very well," the buyer said. "Now I am willing to pay any price for one set of EXTREMIS. Just one question: are the effects permanent?"

"It is indeed, but EXTREMIS is removable, if given time and the knowledge to do so," he answered. "You are also in luck as we do have one of an advanced set of it. However, it is experimental, but I guarantee you that there is no risk of exploding. Are you still interested?"

The buyer slowly nodded and went into his phone and soon, Killian's phone went off and he smiled.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Killian," he said, stepping out of the shadows to shake his hand, revealing a young man with five large claw marks on the left side of his face.

He then walked out and Killian walked out of his office as well he headed towards the basement of the mansion.

Max slowly awoke to find himself hanging upside down from the ceiling, his head about six feet from the ground. He looked around and quickly saw his father zip tied to a bed.

"Dad!!," he exclaimed.

"Max!! Thank God, you're alright," Tony said.

"Where's mom?"

"Don't know. Woke up just before you did."

"I'd probably worry more about yourselves at the moment," a familiar voice said and Max turned to see.

"If you're working for AIM, Miss Hansen, then why come to Malibu and try to save us?"

"Because I need your father to help us. With the help he gave me thirteen years ago, EXTREMIS is practically stabilized."

"You're kidding yourself, lady. I've been out there in the world, and people are going boom and taking many lives with them."

"Then both of you help me fix that," she said and showed a crumbled up nametag with an equation on, and it was in Tony's handwriting.

"Did I do that?," Tony asked and Maya grew a confused look.

"...Yes."

"I remember the night, but not the morning."

"Sounds like you," Max commented. "Now why am I upside down?"

"So you can't concentrate hard enough to phase out with all the blood going through your head. Anyway, you don't remember?"

"You know, I had heard of you. You were once a woman of morals, good intention and ambition. Now look at you... obsessed with getting this monstrous program right and doing whatever it takes to do so. At least my mom and dad still have their souls."

Her face then changed into one of shock and realization as she knew that Max was right.

"Get us out of here," Tony said, and she looked scared at the idea. "Come on."

She just backed away from them as Killian came in.

"Do you want to know what my old man used to say," Killian said as he walked up to them. "One of his favorite of many sayings, really. 'The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."

"You're not still pissed about the whole Switzerland thing, are you?"

"How can I be pissed at you, Tony? You gave me the greatest gift anyone's ever given me... desperation. You think back to Switzerland, you said you'd meet on the rooftop, right? Well, for about the first... twenty minutes, I actually thought you'd show up. After the first hour, I thought about taking that one step down to the lobby, if you know what I mean."

"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to the first mouse," Tony said.

"Killian, just let my parents go," Max said and he looked at him. "It's me who threatened you, said those things. They've done nothing to you."

"Under normal circumstances, I would actually consider doing that. But sadly... no can do," he said. "You called the Mandarin out, and forced me to reveal my hand. Now I have to hide it again, and I can't take any chances. You see... on that rooftop, an idea struck me that would guide me for the years to come. I looked down as the people below me cheered. No one saw me... no one knew or cared that I was there... and that's when the idea came... anonymity, Max. Rule behind the scenes. You see, once you give evil a face... a bin Laden, a Gaddafi, a Mandarin... you give them a target. I'm told that you've already met him, right?"

"Oh yeah. Sir Laurence Oblivier."

"I know he's a little... over the top sometimes. It's not entirely my fault. He has a ten- he's a stage actor. They say his Lear was the toast of Croyden, wherever that is."

"It's a large town, south of London," Max said.

"Oh... yeah, it does sound British," Killian said and he got up and walked up to him and grabbed him by the hair and Max saw EXTREMIS course through a vein in his face. "Anyway... perhaps I should hand you over to my most recent buyer. He said he wants EXTREMIS to take down Arc after all. Why don't you give me a reason to not give you to him?"

"You leave my son alone!!!," Tony yelled and Killian just laughed.

"Hahaha... look at this. The son is trying to protect the father, and the father is trying to protect the son. How touching. I'm not gonna hurt either of you, not yet anyway. Right now, I wanna bestow upon you both the same gift that you graciously bestowed upon me, Tony."

He took out three small ball like objects and rolled them over to the side and a hologram of Pepper being injected with EXTREMIS.

"Desperation."

"Mom!!!," Max yelled when he saw his mother in pain. "I swear when I get down from this, I am going to kill you."

"I can't wait," Killian taunted. "Now, this is live and right now, the body is trying to decided whether to accept EXTREMIS, or to just give up. If it gives up, well... I have to say the detonation is quite spectacular. But up until that point, it's really just a lot of pain."

"Oh boy, you do realize you're just digging your grave deeper, right?"

"I'd listen," Tony said. "My son doesn't make idle threats."

"Really?," he said and walks over to him and punches Max in the face as heats up his hand. "You see, I don't really react well to threats. And this what I do to those who do threaten me."

"Let them go!!," Maya yelled and he turned slowly to see she had an injector at her neck. "I said let them both go!!"

"...You know it's times like these when my temper is tested more than usual," Killian said. "Maya, give me the injector. Now."

"If I die Killian, what happens to your business? What happens if you go too hot?"

Killian's answer to this was simple... he shot her through the heart and she fell dead.

"The good news is... a job position just opened up."

"...You are a maniac," Tony said as he left.

"No, I'm a visionary. But I do own a maniac, and he takes the show tonight."

The two of them were then left there and later on, two guards came by to watch them.

Then Max's watch began to beep. The guards looked at him strangely when they saw what kind of watch he had.

"It's a limited edition," he said and winked at his father and gave him a look to which Tony seemed to understand. "Hey, Ponytail Express. What's the mileage count between Tennessee and Miami?"

"832 miles," he answered as the other guard walked up next to him with the watch in hand.

"Not bad."

"I'm good like that. You wanna...?"

"Break it, you bought it," Tony said as the guy stomps on the watch.

"I think I bought it," the other guy said.

"Okay, that was actually a friend of mine's sister's, so we're gonna kill you first, then I'm gonna kill everybody else here," Max said.

"Oh yeah, and how are you gonna do that? You're tied upside down and he's ziptied to a bed."

"By doing this!!," Tony exclaimed and moved his hands a little, but nothing happened.

He tried again and still nothing happened. This kept on going for a while between Tony and the guards. All the while, Max simply watched with a bored and annoyed expression on his face.

"Cut me loose, tie yourselves to those chairs, and I'll let you live in five... four, come on!!! Three... two... one. You should be dead right now."

"I am beyond terrified," the first guard said. "This is what you've had to deal with everyday, kid?"

"On the better days," he answered, then he noticed something. "...Five, four, three, two, one, go!!!!"

Then the right arm of the Mark 42 suit flew through the window and got on Tony's arm, who immediately shot the second guard.

"Told you," Tony said as he got himself loose and began to fend off the other guard as a leg attached to his own leg and he kicked him away whilst grabbing his gun and had his weapons, but then looked back. "Where's the rest?"

"Come on, kid. I told you to be ready to open the doors," Max said quietly to himself. "They should be here soon. Do you mind?"

Tony then shot the rope holding his son, who quickly got it off and took the gun and began speed shoot all nearby guards. He then came back and brought his father over to the upper levels.

"My suit?"

"They took it."

Max then sped off again to search the mansion, just as Tony began to walk out and the rest of the Mark 42 arrived.

"Well, better late than never."

He walked outside as the suit attached to him until only the faceplate was left.

"No, no!! Not this time, not this time," he said as he caught the last piece and put it on. "Ah, that's better. Hello, by the way, JARVIS."

'Oh, hello, sir,' JARVIS said as the Iron Patriot flew over them and Max sped over with his suit on, apart from his helmet.

"They got Uncle Rhodey as well?," he asked.

"So it would seem."

Then Tony got a call.

" _Tony!!,_ " Rhodey said over the phone.

"Rhodey, tell me that was you in the suit."

" _Nope. I was caught by Killian._ "

"Well, meet us at the main house. I've got somebody I think you both will want to meet," Max said.

They made their way to the house and quickly found Trevor. They shot down the guards protecting him with ease, all the while Trevor woke up and finished off the beer in his hand before looking at them.

"What have you come as?," he asked.

"You move," Rhodey said as he pressed the seat the man was in down and pointed a gun at him. "I break your face."

"I... I didn't know that people were getting hurt. They-They lied to me on that."

" _This_ is the Mandarin?," both Tony and Rhodey said, looking at Max.

"Yeah. Embarrassing, huh?"

"Hi, my name's Trevor," he said, extending his hand but Rhodey slapped it away. "Trevor Slattery. I know I'm shorter in person, everybody says so. Hey, if you're here to arrest me, there are some people I would like to roll on."

"Here's the deal, Meryl Streep," Tony said. "You tell us where Pepper is and he'll stop doing it?"

"Doing what-?"

Rhodey then pressed the still hot barrel of his gun against the side of the weasel's ear.

"Ow!!! Ow, that hurts!!! Well, I don't know about any Pepper, but I do know about Killian's plan."

"Do you know what they did with my suit?," Rhodey asked.

"What? No. But I-I do know it involves a... very big boat. Hey, ole!! Ole, ole, ole!!!," he yelled at the tv which had a soccer game going and his team just scored. Max responded to this by blasting the tv. "Hey, I was watching that."

"You'll be watching me do a lot worse than destroy your tv soon," Max threatened.

"Alright, alright!! This next bit might involve the Vice President. ...Is that important?"

"Somewhat," Tony said.

"Yeah, a little," Rhodey said next.

"Well, whatever's going on is on a big boat. I can take you there!!," Trevor said and the guys then huddled together to talk amongst themselves.

"So what are we gonna do? We have no transport," Rhodey asked and then Max remembered something.

"Hey, Macbeth," Max said, getting Trevor's attention. "Didn't you say something about a lovely speedboat?"

Trevor simply pointed outside to the water and they saw a speedboat there. Soon enough, they were well on their way towards a distant salvage yard. As Tony and Rhodey informed the Vice President of the danger that he and President Ellis himself were in, he began messaging Shuri.

"Hey, sorry I haven't been able to talk," he messaged. "I got captured. But I'm free now."

" _You are having one crazy Christmas, aren't you?_ ," she said. " _Did you find the Mandarin?_ "

"It's a long and complicated story. So I'll tell you once this all blows over. And after Christmas, I'm heading to England to deliver my lecture on my Tesseract theory."

" _Okay. Talk to you later then. ...Stay safe._ "

"When have I ever not stayed safe?," he asked, then realized what he had just said and quickly added something. "...Don't answer that question."

He walked back over to the others who were discussing what to do first.

"Listen, guys, we either save the president or Pepper. We can't do both," Rhodey said.

'Sir? Max?,' JARVIS said. 'I'm pleased to say that the cranes have finally arrived and they are clearing debris on the vault as we speak.'

"And what about the suit I'm wearing?," Tony asked.

'Power is currently at 92%,' he answered as Tony removes the cables connected to his suit, which charging via a car battery.

"That's gonna have to do."

"Well, we can't risk you freaking out up there since we all know we need to save the president first," Max said.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Some time later, Iron Man flew up towards Air Force One, which was flying nearby.

"Looks like our old friend Savin is onboard," Tony said as he closed.

" _Tell him I said hi_ ," Max said over coms.

Iron Man then smashed through a window and blasted Savin into a wall before coming in and pinned him to that wall, threatening to blast a hole through his face.

"The president!!!," Iron Man yelled. "Now!!"

"He's not here," he said calmly and he grabbed hold of Iron Man's arms and heated them up. "He had a flight to catch. Speaking of which... go fish."

He lifted up a detonator and activated it. An explosion occurred and the people still on the plane were blown out and began to fall to the ground. Savin began to try killing Iron Man, but he was able to get out of his grip and used the chest repulsor and burn a hole through Savin's.

" _Walk away from that, you son of a bitch_ ," Max said over coms as he slumped to the ground. " _Now that that's done, go save those people._ "

"Right," he said and then flew out and save them.

One by one, he grabbed hold of all thirteen in the air like barrel of monkeys. Once he had them all, he dropped them safely in the water... but then Iron Man was hit by a truck to reveal that it was just the suit and that Tony was still on the speedboat, controlling it remotely.

"That came out of nowhere."

"Is everyone safe?," Rhodey asked, opening the door to the inside of the boat to reveal Tony and Max.

"I think I got everyone. I missed the president though."

"Great. You couldn't save the president with the suit, how are we gonna save Pepper with nothing?"

"...JARVIS, is it that time?," Tony asked.

'The House Party Protocol, sir?,' JARVIS asked.

"Yes."

"Do I want to know what that is?," Max asked.

"You'll see."

That night, they arrived at a cargo shipyard, where they saw the place was set up for a show, and was practically a fortress.

"You're not gonna freak out on us, right?," Rhodey asked.

"I hope not," Tony answered as he was handed a gun and the three of them headed into the compound.

"Look, it's the president," Max said and pointed upward to see President Ellis in the Iron Patriot suit, hanging by his arms in the air under oil tanks. "They're gonna give a viking funeral. A public execution. We have to stop them now."

"Yeah, but we're kind of outnumbered at the moment. So, what's the plan exactly?"

"...Alright. We've got three priorities, right?," Max asked and they nodded. "Rescue Mom, save the president and take down Killian. Uncle Rhodey will save the president and get his suit, Dad will get Mom and I'll fight Killian."

"Alone?," Tony said.

"I started this mess, now I'm gonna end it. Trust me."

"That's a good plan and all but-," Rhodey said and then they were being fired at as they had been spotted. Max grabbed them both and sped them over to cover higher up. "What about all of these EXTREMIS soldiers? Man, I would kill for some armor right about now."

"Yeah, we need back up."

"Yeah, a bunch."

"You know what?," Tony said as he looked out into the distance as a large group of a familiar sight came flying towards them.

"I-Is that-?," Rhodey asked, bewildered at the sight.

"Yup."

"Are those...?," Max asked as well, just as bewildered.

"Yep," Tony answered as the other thirty-four Iron Man suits of different shapes and sizes arrived and surrounded the area. "Merry Christmas, guys. JARVIS, target EXTREMIS heat signatures. Disable with _extreme_ prejudice."

'Yes, sir,' JARVIS said through the suit.

"The Iron Legion...," Max muttered to himself.

"Well, what are you waiting for? It's Christmas... take 'em to church."

With that, the suits began to attack the soldiers. One by one, they entered combat against the EXTREMIS soldiers, while some were quickly overwhelmed, they took down some of the bad guys with them. But then explosion destabilized the platform they were one but Tony quickly summoned a larger suit named Igor to keep it stable.

"So this is how you've been managing your down time?," Rhodey said.

"Everyone needs a hobby."

Then one suit is being ripped apart while it was in the air and it flew into the main control room, making it blow up.

As the suits continued to fight, Max joined in the battle as a suit came down for Tony to put on and Rhodey held his arms up for one.

"Okay, give me one too."

"Oh, I'm sorry. They're only coded to me," Tony said as he finished suiting up.

"...What does that mean?"

"I got you covered."

The faceplate went down and he flew off as another came to pick up Rhodey.

'Good evening, Colonel. Shall I give you a lift?'

"Oh, very funny," Rhodey said sarcastically as they flew off but then a soldier jumped onto the suit and destroyed it, making Rhodey fall onto a higher level.

"You good?," Max asked.

"I'm fine. I'll get the president, you deal with Killian!!"

'Sir, I've located Miss Potts,' JARVIS said to Tony.

"About time!!," Tony yelled as he flew to the control room with Max behind him to find Pepper pinned underneath rubble.

"Mom!!!," he yelled as he and Tony ran over and began to lift the rubble, but then some more rubble began to pin her more down.

"Stop!!! Stop!!!," she yelled as EXTREMIS flowed through her body.

"See what happens when you hang out for my ex girlfriends?," Tony joked, trying to lighten the mood, but neither his son nor Pepper were in a joking mood.

"...You're such a jerk..."

"I know. I know. You can get mad at us later, but you can't stay there. Give me your hand, I can't reach you. Please."

She began reaching out for his hand and just as he was about to grab it, a fiery hand ripped out the arc reactor in Tony's suit and then Max's as well. Tony fell to the ground as it was nearly impossible to move in the suit without the reactor energy going through it, and Max was stunned by the sudden move. Killian then came through the hole in the floor, EXTREMIS coursing through his whole body and burning incredibly hot, making him seem like an inferno.

"Are these guys bothering you?," he asked as he kicked Max away a distance and stood over Tony and began to heat up his suit. "Ooh, what's wrong? Stuck? You feeling a little stuck? Feel like a little turtle? Cooking in his little turtle suit?"

"Tony...," Pepper said weakly.

"She's watching. Well, she's gonna have to watch me kill you first and then move on to your son. If you don't want to see that, you should probably close your eyes. Close your eyes, you don't want to see this."

He was about to kill Tony just as Max came to and he saw him raising his heated arm. He ejected his claws and sped over and sliced off his arm before he could bring it down. Immediately he began to regrow it, though it was quite painful.

"Yeah, you take a minute," Max said as the severed arm melted through the floor and destabilized the room, making rubble and Pepper fall out. "MOM!!!!"

"I got her!! Go help Rhodey!!," Tony said, getting into another suit.

Max was quite reluctant to do so, but he knew his father was right as Rhodey had no suit.

He sped back out to find Rhodey gettingbthe president out of the Iron Patriot suit and then getting into it himself.

"Glad to see you were able to save him, Uncle Rhodey. I'll get him to safety, you help Dad save Mom."

"You sure?," Rhodey asked and he nodded. "...Alright. Mr. President, Arc here will get you to safety while I deal with all of this."

"Well, alright then," the president said and he flew off and began to fight the EXTREMIS soldiers to get to Tony.

"By the way, it's an honor to meet you, sir," Max said as he grabbed the president's arm and the back of his head.

"The honor is mine, but why is your hand on the back of my head?"

"To stop it from being jerked backwards by whiplash. Whatever you do, don't move, unless you want to lose a limb."

"What?!"

Max just grinned under his helmet and sped off, the president screaming a little. He quickly ran across the water and brought him to the nearest police station before heading back to the fight and he soon found them. His mother was still pinned under rubble and was about to fall from two hundred feet and Tony was reaching out to try to catch her.

"Just let go, I'll catch you!!!," he yelled and Max began to speed towards them.

Then the weight of the rubble became too much for the platform Pepper was on and Max jump into the air as she fell and he caught her and landed on a lower level.

"You alright?," he asked and she nodded before hugging him tightly. "...It's alright. I'm okay too."

"...Go kick his ass," she said quietly and Max looked at her.

"With pleasure. Dad, we're right below you. Get Mom to safety. Killian is mine."

" _Thank God. Are you sure you can handle him alone?,_ " Tony asked.

"...I started all of this. Now, I'm gonna end it."

Max sped back up to Tony as Killian came into view. Max looked at his father and nodded, Tony returned the nod and got into a suit and flew off with Pepper. Killian began to try to chase after them, but Max ran at him and kicked down.

"Your fight is with me, not them."

"Haha... my fight is with all of you," he said as Max took off his helmet. "But if you wanna did first, I'm good with that."

His body began to heat up and charged at Max. Arc simply sped towards him and grabbed him by the throat. He threw him back a distance before beginning to exchange blows with him. Max threw a punch, but Killian caught his hand and got him in a hold. Max simply began to punch him with his other hand but then Killian shot fire out of his mouth and Max had to phase out of his hold. The fire burn Killian's shirt and revealed the dragon tattoos on his chest and Max jump spin kicked him in the face and sped out of the way of his counterattacks, then they threw punches at each other at the same time with the same arm. Their arms connected and the force broke Killian's arm temporarily and also pushed him back on to the ground. With his enhanced abilities and strength, Max was able to withstand the force with only some burns on his knuckles even with his vibranium suit on.

"Okay... now you just pissed me off."

He shot fire from his mouth again to distract Max long enough for him to get up and grab him by the arm and flip him over his shoulder.

"Come on. We've gotta help him," Rhodey said as they watched after all of the other EXTREMIS soldiers were taken care of, apart from Pepper.

As he and Tony moved in to help, Pepper stopped them.

"This is his fight. He needs to do this himself," she said in a tone that told them that she was serious and they stood down.

Killian grabbed Max's arm and tried to cut his arm off, but only made a scratch in the suit.

"What the...?," he said, confused but he quickly recovered and tried to cut off his arm at a hotter temperature.

Max didn't wa t to push his luck so he quickly phased out of his grip again. He backflipped onto a lower platform and got ready to fight again.

'Mark 42 inbound, sirs,' JARVIS said to Tony and Max.

"I'll be damned. The prodigal son returns," Tony said and quickly began to try to remotely control the suit.

It then began to land next to Max, who seemed happy to have some backup. But then the suit made contact with the platform and fell to pieces.

"...Whatever," Max said, annoyed.

"You know, if you had just kept your mouth shut, I would've left you and your family alone," Killian said. "How ironic it is. That you try so hard to protect them, only to get them all killed."

He jumped down intimidatingly, but Max stood his ground.

"You're wrong though. You messed with my family when you almost got Happy killed."

Max then waved his hands towards Killian and the Mark 42 flew onto Killian and pinned him to the wall behind him.

"JARVIS, blow Mark 42 now!!!"

Killian yelled as the helmet came on and Max sped downwards to the ground as it blew. However the explosion began to take down the entire compound that was already severely damaged. Max was hit in the head by debris and off, only for Iron Man and Iron Patriot to grab him and fly him a distance away. Then some debris hit them both and they dropped Max, who then fell down to the ground. He soon came to, though he was still dazed and saw the Mark 42 helmet nearby, in flames.

He sighed in relief, believing that it was over and then the burns started to hurt him. All of a sudden, someone got up from the flames and limped closer towards Max. He soon saw that was a badly burned Killian coming towards him.

"...No more false faces...," he said. "You said you wanted the Mandarin. Well... you're looking right at him. It was always me, Max, right from the start. I AM THE MANDARIN-!!!!"

He was then struck away from Max by a girder, held by none other than Max's mother, EXTREMIS flowing through her.

"...Whoa...," Max said as Killian got back up and Tony and Rhodey flew in. Iron Patriot shot him back down as Max saw a missile on the ground. He quickly picked it up and kicked towards the Mandarin. "Dad, shoot it!!!"

"Got it!!," Iron Man yelled and blasted the missile and the explosion effectively finished Killian off.

"...I'm sorry. This was my fault."

"Don't be. It's over now," Pepper said. "But I wonder... which one of us is the piping hot mess now?"

"Still debatable. Tipping both your ways now."

"No. You're all the piping hot messes," Rhodey said as he and Tony got out of their suits.

Tony then walked over to pepper to give her a hug. She was afraid at first but soon saw that she wasn't burning him at all. They quickly hugged each other tightly with their son and Rhodey watching them and smiling. Max then walked over and sat down against a cargo container nearby.

"Things are gonna be different now, I promise," Tony said.

"And your distractions?," she asked, referring to the many suits.

"Uh actually, I'm gonna shave them down a bit. Max, if you will?"

"With pleasure," he said. "JARVIS, initiate the Clean Slate Protocol."

They all looked up to see the suit all beginning to explode like fireworks until finally they were all gone.

"How do you like your Christmas present so far? Nice?"

"...It'll do," Pepper said as she gestured for Max to join them, which he did.

Sometime later, after Christmas, Max and Pepper had a long talk with Tony, who finally decided to not only have a procedure to have the shrapnel in his chest removed and no longer need the reactor in his chest, he also decided to go and get professional help as well. After some problem solving and calculations, Max and Tony were able to remove EXTREMIS from Pepper as well. Now, Max watched from the car as Tony stood over the edge of what was left of their old home. After a moment, he then threw his reactor into the ocean and turned back to him. Walking his way back, he picked up a small screwdriver and then a few other things and he got into his car.

"I have to go somewhere, I'll meet you in New York," Max said.

"Where are you going?," Tony asked.

"To see an old friend."

He nodded and drove off as Max took out his phone.

"Hey. Crazy holiday season huh?"

" _That is an understatement_ ," Shuri messaged back. " _How are you all doing?_ "

"Much better. Happy is recovering, everyone involved in the Mandarin campaign has been apprehended, EXTREMIS has been taken out of my mom and my dad doesn't need his reactor anymore. Only one loose end left."

" _Let me know how it goes._ "

"Will do," he said and then began speeding east.

After some time passed, he found himself back in Rose Hill and he phased himself into Harley's shop. He waited for about an hour until the kid himself opened the door and he hid.

Harley turned on the lights to find that his shop had had a serious upgrade. The computer was now state of the art, car looked brand new, it was almost like Tony Stark's shop. He looked to see a small robot arm even. The kid was absolutely blown away by all of this.

"Aha!!! What the-?!," he said.

"Glad you like it," Max said and the kid turned to see his friend and he immediately hugged him, which he returned. "Told you that I'd come back."

"Yeah, you did. Thank you so much!! This place is amazing!! How did you convince my mom to let you do this?"

"I told her that it was a Christmas present to her son for helping an Avenger. The computers are state of the art and are linked to Stark Industries satellites. But now hacking into anyplace you're not supposed to, okay?"

"Got it," he said, and then Max handed him a present.

"Late Christmas present," he said and Harley opened it to find a new potato gun inside. "Mark II."

The kid hugged him one last time before Max had to leave.

"See ya later, Iron Lad."

He sped off towards New York, to his new home and a new chapter in his life.

Somewhere in Europe

A man stood in front of the window of an abandoned warehouse. The scars on his face were clear as day in the flickering light within.

"You sure you wanna do this?," a second man asked. "There is a chance that you'll blow up."

"If I want to get faster, I must be able to withstand high temperatures or I'll never be able push my limits," he answered. "Besides there is a no blowing guarantee. Maxwell Stark _will_ die by my hand. If that means I must become a living inferno, then so be it."

"Alright... but don't come crying to me if it doesn't work."

"Noted."

The second man then pulled out an injection gun and injected EXTREMIS into his friend. Immediately, it began to spread through his body and he began glowing bright orange. He yelled in pain for a moment until somehow, he was able to control it almost immediately and calmed down as his color returned.

"Huh... it really is an improved batch," he said.

"Now that that shit is taken care of, let's get back to work," Killmonger said.

 **I hope you liked this. Sorry it took so long, but I'll start on Thor 2 as soon as possible. Until then, see ya later.**


	19. Oxford and Asgard

**Thor: The Dark World part one.**

 **I own only my original characters, nothing else.**

A few months have past since Christmas and now Max was in Stark Tower in New York, packing for his trip to London to deliver his lecture at Oxford.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?," Pepper asked.

"Uh, about a week maybe," he answered. "I deliver my lecture the day after I land, but I've also heard word on a few friends of mine being in London at the moment so I'm gonna try to find them. I'll let you know when I'm on my way back."

"It seems things are always getting in the way of our lives. You always have to leave."

Max stopped and looked at his mom. He then walked and hugged her tightly, which she immediately returned.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been around much. I'm sorry that keep on leaving, I really am. But I promise, nothing bad is going to happen when I'm in London."

She smiled and nodded before eventually gesturing him to finish packing.

"I better get going," Max said once he had finished.

She nodded and said her goodbyes, and Tony came in and said his goodbyes as well.

"Knock them dead, Professor!!," Tony exclaimed, which made Max shudder at the thought of him being a professor or even a teacher in general.

" _Never_ call me that ever again," Max said, which made his father chuckle as he got into his new car, a new R8 e-tron, with a Bugatti Veyron Supersport, in the tower private parking lot. "Thanks for the car by the way, even though it's completely unnecessary for me to drive."

'It might attract unwanted attention to you, Max, should you be speeding all over the United Kingdom,' JARVIS pointed out through the tower speakers.

"Hm... touché, JARVIS. Touché. Later!!"

He got in and drove off to the nearby airport. As he drove, he activated his phone and called his best friend.

" _Hello?_ ," Shuri answered.

"Hey. I'm on my way to the airport now," he said. "I'll have someone record my lecture so you can see it as well."

" _Okay. Are you going to be visiting some time soon?_ "

"...Might not be a good idea for the time being."

" _Why not?_ "

"Well, for the past few years, I've been staying in one place for a few months to another. A lot of times it's been away from my parents. My mom has barely been able to see me. So, maybe I should try to spend more time with her after London. But I will visit Wakanda eventually. Just not anytime soon."

" _...Okay_ ," she said back. " _I understand. I really do. You have been away from her a lot. So... what will you do after the lecture?_ "

"Heard some old friends of mine were in London so I thought I should see if I can find them," he answered. "Okay, I'm at the airport, so I gotta go. I'll talk to you afterwards."

" _Okay. Goodbye, Max._ "

"Bye, Shuri."

He hung up the phone as he parked his car and walked onto the plane, with Happy flying it.

"How are you doing, kid?," Happy asked.

"I'm good. What about you?," Max asked as he sat down in the copilot's seat.

"I'm good now. Though I'm trying to catch up on Downton Abbey."

"Haha. Can't help you there. I was a little busy with taking down Aldrich Killian. Happy... I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you at the-."

"Stop," he said sternly. "There was no way that you could've known what happened. There's nothing to apologize for, but I do thank you for standing up to defend me and saving your family."

"But I put them in danger in the first place."

"Something tells me that it would've happened no matter what. What's done is done, Max. Best thing to do is to move on."

"...I'll try," Max said.

They continued their conversation for sometime until they finally arrived in London. He said his goodbyes to his friend and got into the car that was left for him.

' _Okay, Max, time to go through a trip where you don't fight aliens or evil fire guys,_ ' he thought to himself as he drove.

He stayed in the hotel that was set up for him nearby Oxford University for the rest of the day, rehearsing for the presentation.

The next day, Max was now standing at the front of an Oxford classroom filled with astrophysicists and other such scientists.

"Thank you all for coming in today," Max began. "For those of you who do not know who I am, my name is Maxwell Stark, and yes, I am the Avenger known as Arc. I've come here today to introduce to you a theory that I have come up with involving what is known as the Tesseract."

The lights dimmed down and a hologram of the Tesseract appeared.

"After the portal was closed, I was able to get a look at the cube and I realized... the true power was what was inside. Based on what I've seen, the Tesseract seems to be an object of potentially infinite power, but it's main purpose is meant to be used as possible a transportation device. Obviously, this power cannot be without form, therefore I believe that this power takes the form of a concentrated ingot, a stone. An... Infinity Stone."

There were some murmuring around the room. Some called this brilliant, others thought of it as a joke.

"And this is the theory that you wished to present to us?," one person asked.

"Partly. The main part of the theory is this: that there are more."

"More? More 'Infinity Stones'? Come now, Mr. Stark, like your father and your grandfather, you are a man of science. Surely you must have proof of this, correct?"

"May I please finish before you criticize?," he asked, annoyed by the questioning and interruptions. When no one spoke up, he continued. "Thank you. Now, I theorize that there are six stones. Each one governing an aspect of existence and each of a color of the rainbow. The Tesseract is likely the stone that governs space, the Space Stone. Then there is Reality, Soul, Mind and finally Time. Now for the sixth, Power. It is likely that from this stone that the others were formed."

"And where do you suspect that these stones came from?," another asked.

"In all likelihood, perhaps these powers were around before the beginning of the universe. Then the Big Bang happened and these powers became the Infinity Stones. Now I know that this all seems absurd and far-fetched. I'm not expecting any support, I merely wished to present this to you. Are there any questions?"

"I have one," the first man from before said. "If you were to take all six of these so called 'Infinity Stones,' and use all of their power at once, what do you think would happen?"

"...Likely, one would potentially wield a power beyond measure or imagining. But considering we are dealing with objects of infinite power, we mere humans would likely only be able to handle harnessing one, and that would likely depend on who was using it. But as for what one could do with all six of them... one might be able to destroy the universe, create a new one, reshape time and space. You'd likely have the power to do anything... but who wants that much power? If that's all the questions, thank you all for your time and have a wonderful day."

The lights went back to normal and Max casually walked out of the room and he dropped everything off at the hotel and sped sixty miles east to explore downtown London. After an hour or two, he then saw someone he hadn't seen a few years.

"Darcy Lewis?," Max said and the said person turned and her eyes widened.

"Whoa, Max Stark?!," she exclaimed. "Wow, it's been a while. Last I saw you, you..."

"Left to go to Asgard, yeah."

"Yeah. Everything went fine, I'm guessing. Obviously. Um... what are you doing here?"

"I just finished giving a lecture at Oxford and I heard that Jane and Selvig were in the England. Just wasn't expecting to find you as well."

"Hi, by the way. Name's Ian," a guy in the back of Darcy's car said. "Honor to meet you, Mr. Stark."

"He's my intern," Darcy explained.

"An intern can have an intern?," Max asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

Max decided not to continue the conversation and changed the subject.

"So, why are you here?"

"Well, Jane is inside this building on a date, and I came by to tell her about her scanner thingy started going off and I thought that she might be interested."

"Might be?"

"She hasn't paid as much attention to the stuff as she used to after you know..."

"Ah, well can I see the scanner?," Max asked and she handed it to him and his eyes widened slightly and then grew into a frown. "...Just once, I'd like to go on a trip that doesn't turn into a world changing event..."

"What?," she asked, not understanding his mumbling.

"Nothing, but I'll be coming with you guys. Move over, Ian."

He did so as he got into the car and Darcy followed suit. A few moments later, Jane Foster got into the car with a not so pleased look on her face.

"And I hate you," she said.

"What?! I thought he was cute," she said cheekily.

"Just shut up and drive."

Darcy pulls out and drive off, as they are driving through London suddenly Jane is shocked to see a familiar face in the backseat.

"What the-?!! Max?!!"

"Hey, Jane," he said. "Been a few years huh? So who's this supposedly cute guy you were on a date with?"

"Oh, don't you dare start!! And who is this other guy?"

"He's my intern," Darcy answered.

"You have an intern?," Jane asked.

"Oh, yeah."

"Hello, Dr. Foster. It's uh... it's a great honor to be working with you. Take a right."

Darcy quickly makes a sharp turn, earning some honks as she follows Ian's instructions. All the while, Max begins to regret coming and Jane tries to call Erik Selvig.

"Left!," Ian yelled as Max looked the whereabouts of Selvig.

"I have totally mastered driving in London," Darcy proudly said as she drove very recklessly.

"Yup, next step is to master your patience with driving in New York, then it's all downhill after that."

"Hi, Erik, it's me again. Where are you? I came here because you said you were onto something and then vanished," Jane said over the phone.

"Uh, Jane?," Max said as he handed her his phone which was showing a news report that showed where Selvig was naked and running around Stonehenge with the police trying to catch him. "Guessing he's been a little out of it since New York, right?"

"Yeah, but it hasn't been this bad before. Why are you here?"

"He gave a lecture at Oxford."

"An hour or so ago. Thought you would be there. What I was talking about is right up your alley."

"Sorry. How about you tell me about it later then?," she said and he nodded at this as she looked back at him. "It really is good to see you again, Max."

"You too, Jane," Max replied as they arrived.

"Come on, this is exciting!! Look, even the intern is excited."

"Ian," Ian and Max corrected.

"Do you want the phase meter?," Darcy asked.

"No."

"Bring the phase meter," she said and threw the keys to her intern and began to walk off. "The toaster looking thing."

"I know what the phase meter is."

Jane and Max began walking towards the factory as Darcy called her on her cell phone, which began to playing an annoying ringtone.

"How do I change the ringtone on this thing?," she asked, annoyed greatly.

" _An astrophysicist with three degrees should be able to change her own ringtone,_ " Darcy said over the phone and Max turned to her.

"Why are you calling her?," he asked.

"I didn't want to shout. Intern, the entrance is this way."

"Ian. My name's Ian," the intern said as they entered the factory. Then they stopped when Max heard a noise and he pushed Jane behind him.

"I am not getting stabbed in the name of science."

"No one is getting stabbed, period," Max said. "Not while I'm here. You can come out, we're not gonna hurt you!!!"

"It's okay, we're Americans!!," Darcy yelled.

"Is that supposed to make them like us?," Jane questioned as some kids came out. "Oh, they're kids."

"Are you the police?," one asked.

"No, no, we're scientists. Well, I am."

"...Thanks a lot," Darcy commented.

"No need to worry, I'm an Avenger. I'm Arc. You can trust us."

"...Okay. We just found it."

"Can you show us?"

The three kids lead Jane, Max, Darcy and Ian to a truck, one of the boys touched the truck and pushed it up with two fingers. They all watched in amazement as the truck began to float in mid-air.

"That doesn't seem rigged."

"That's because it isn't," Max stated as he walked closer and inspected it. "Something is affecting the gravity in this area. Is there anything else?"

The kids nodded and took them over to a nearby stairwell in the factory. One of them then dropped a bottle down and they all watched as the bottle disappears into thin air.

"Where did it go?," Darcy asked.

The girl pointed upwards and they all looked up to see the bottle reappear above them and it began to continuously fall and disappear in the same spot in the air until the girl caught it.

"That's... that's incredible."

Jane picked up an empty can and dropped it down and it did the exact same thing. However, when it disappeared into thin air, it did not reappear.

"What happened?"

"Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don't," the girl said.

Darcy began to act childish and began to throw things over the ledge, unfortunately including the car keys, which did not come back. Jane, on the other hand, began look at the readings her equipment was picking up.

"I haven't seen readings like this since...," Jane began.

"New Mexico?," Max guessed and she slowly nodded, but didn't say anything.

Max began to look around the factory for any other anomalies the children might've missed. It was then that after several hours, Max realized that he hadn't seen Jane for sometime. He began to zoom around all over the building, looking for her. When he couldn't find her, he sped back to Darcy and Ian and saw the kids were gone.

"Max, where's Jane?!!," she asked, freaking out a little.

"I don't know. I've looked all over. I'll look again, you two call the police."

He ran around again and by the time the police arrived, Jane reappeared and she wasn't happy that the authorities were present.

"Jane! Where the hell were you?!"

"Tell me you didn't call the police!!," she yelled.

"What were we supposed to do?"

" _Not_ call the police!"

"I was freaking out."

"You call the cops they tell the feds, the next thing you know we have SHIELD crawling all over area fifty-one-ing the place."

"Hey, SHIELD isn't as bad as you think," Max argued.

"They took my equipment!!"

"They gave it back."

"...Whatever. Anyway, Darcy, we had a stable gratification anomaly, we had unheeded access. Our only competition was ten years old!"

"Jane, you were gone for five hours!," Max and Darcy yelled and this shocked Jane.

"What?," she said.

"Yes, Jane. Five hours."

Then they all took notice that it had started raining, but the rain wasn't hitting them.

"That's weird," Darcy commented.

"I'm gonna have to go on a limb here and say that Thor is back," Max guessed and looked behind Jane and laughed a little at what he saw. "Hahaha... as if on cue..."

Jane turned around to see none other than the God of Thunder himself. She then began to walk over to him as the barrier following her and the rain began to fall on Darcy and Max.

"Typical."

Max just chuckled and fixed the bag he had as it was slipping off his shoulder and walked towards the two who were about to kiss.

"Hate to interrupt, but this is probably not the best place to do that," Max said and got their attention and Thor gave him a one-armed hug, which returned.

"Good to see you again, brother," Thor said.

"You too."

"Hey, is this you?," Darcy asked, referring to the rain. Thor looked up and it ceased instantly.

"Uh, guys...we're kind of in the middle of something," Jane said.

"Um... I'm pretty sure we are getting arrested."

"Um... hold that thought."

She quickly left to speak to the police and Darcy turned to Thor.

"Look at you, still all muscly and everything. ...How's space?"

"Space is fine."

"...This is awkward now," Max commented and they slowly nodded. "So, why are you here?"

"Heimdall lost sight of Jane so I came to see if she was alright."

"And the gravity loss and broken dimensional barriers?"

"Merely signs that the Convergence is approaching soon," Thor explained, but before he could continue, a blast of energy came from Jane when a cop tried to grab her arm, throwing him away a distance. Jane!!! Jane?"

Thor and Max ran over to her and help her up as the cops drew closer.

"You alright?"

"...What just happened?," Jane asked.

"Place your hands on your head, step back!," a second cop ordered.

"Stand down!!," Max yelled. "What happened was unintentional. This woman is unwell."

"She's dangerous."

"So am I," Thor threatened as the cop called for backup and Thor called for the Bifrost. "Hold on to me."

"What are you doing?"

"Looks like we're going back to Asgard."

Suddenly the Bifrost opens and Thor takes Jane and Max to Asgard.

"Holy shit!!!," Darcy yelled as she looked up at where they disappeared.

A few moments later, Max, Thor and Jane travel through the Bifrost and enter Asgard where Heimdall is guarding as always and Jane looks around her in amazement.

"We have to do that again," Jane said excitedly and then saw Heimdall. "Hi..."

"Welcome to Asgard," Heimdall said and he turned to Max. "Welcome _back_ to Asgard... Arc."

"Hey, Heimdall. Shouldn't we get her some help?"

Thor nodded and they headed to the healing room where Jane was being examined as she laid on a stranger device. As they examined her, she could not help herself but ask what everything was, amazed at the entire place. Max and Thor watched as the healers tried to figure out what was wrong with her.

"This is not of Earth, what is it?," Thor asked.

"We do not know, but she will not survive the amount of energy surging within her," a nurse answered and Thor looked at Jane with worry.

"May I see?," Max asked and head healer, Eir, stepped aside for him to look. "...Based on what I'm seeing, it looks like whatever is within her is feeding off her, her life force."

This only made Thor worry more.

"That's a quantum field generator, isn't it?," Jane asked.

"It's a Soul Forge," Eir said.

"Does a Soul Forge transfer molecular energy from one place to another?"

"Yes," she said, slightly impressed.

"It's a quantum field generator," Jane whispered to Thor and he smiled as Odin came in.

"My words are mere noises to you that you ignore them completely?," Odin asked Thor, indicating that he'd been standing there for a while. "It is nice to see you again though, Sir Stark."

"You as well, sir," Max said, bowing his head slightly.

"She's ill," Thor tried to reason.

"She is mortal. Illness is their defining trait."

"This is unlike any earthly illness," Max argued.

"I brought here because we can help her. And I brought him here because he can do the same."

"She does not belong here in Asgard anymore than a goat belongs at a banquet table," Odin said and Jane sat up and looked at him, rather insulted.

"Did he just...?," she said. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Odin. King of Asgard. Protector of the Nine Realms."

"...Oh. Well, I'm-."

"I know very well who you are, Jane Foster," Odin said as guards came and Jane turned towards Thor.

"You told your Dad about me?"

"Something is within her, father, something I have not seen before," Thor tried to explain.

"Her world has its healers, their called doctors, let them deal with it. Guards, take her back to Midgard."

The two guards then began to approach Jane.

"No, I wouldn't-," Arc warned but was too late as they were pushed back by the energy. "-touch her."

"Jane, are you alright?," Thor asked and she nods as Odin and Arc inspect the energy running through her.

It was a fluid looking energy with a blood red color to it.

"That's impossible..."

"The infection, it's defending her," Eir said.

"No... it's defending itself," Thor said.

"...Come with me," Odin said as he took them to another part of the castle and pulled out an ancient book. "There are relics that predate the universe itself. What lies within her appears to be one of them. The Nine Realms are not eternal. They had a dawn as they will have a dusk. But before that dawn the dark forces... the Dark Elves... reigned absolute and unchallenged."

"The Dark Elves? People of Svartalfheim, right?," Max asked.

"You are correct, Sir Stark."

"'Born of eternal night, the Dark Elves comes to steal away your light,'" Thor read from the book. "They were stories mother told us as children."

"Their leader, Malekith made a weapon out of that darkness, it was called the Aether. While the other relics often appeared as stones, the Aether is fluid and ever changing. It changes matter into dark matter and seeks out host bodies, drawing strength from their life force. Malekith sought to use the Aether's power to return the universe to one of darkness. But after eternities of bloodshed, my father, Bor, finally triumphed. Ushering in a peace that has lasted for thousands of years."

"What happened?," Jane asked.

"He killed them all," Odin answered.

"Are you certain?," Thor asked. "The Aether was said to have been destroyed with them and yet here it is."

"...The Dark Elves are dead."

"Why don't we send some people to Svartalfheim to make sure that they are all dead?," Max suggested.

"Nothing has been heard from the Dark World for five thousand years now. They're dead."

"Does your book happen to mention how to get it out of me?"

"...No, it does not," he concluded as he walked away and Max looked closer at the image of the either and then remembered what Odin said before.

"...You said the other relics that predate the universe were stones," Max said and Odin turned to look at him.

"Yes, I did say that."

"Is the Tesseract one of them?"

"...Follow me, Sir Stark. It's time I confirmed this 'theory' of yours."

 **Sorry it took so long. Work got busy for me and then school started up. So life just got in the way. Hope you like this. Until the next story is up, see ya later.**


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